Hogwarts and the Wolf in the Fold
by toffeebull
Summary: Lord Voldemort needs information about Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, so he plans to put a spy inside Hogwarts. The story is set during the year of the Half-blood Prince


Draft Version 1.0

******Hogwarts and the Wolf in the Fold**

By Dazzle

******Chapters**

Introduction 3

A Man with a Problem 5

The Unhappy Child 10

A New Home 16

Sorcery and Secrets 23

Memories are made of This 29

Flight of Fancy 34

Lord of the Manor 38

A First Duel 44

Sounds Familiar 53

A Day in Paris 57

Ready for Hogwarts 63

The Train Journey 71

Settling in at School 80

First Day at Hogwarts 88

A First Look at Harry Potter 99

The Other Side of the Story 108

More Questions and Coincidences 114

A Pleasant Walk with Susan 124

A Trip to Hogsmeade 129

Conversations Overheard 138

Christmas at Hogwarts 147

Lessons in Apparition 163

A Fright in the Dark 177

More Mysteries 182

Quidditch and Questions 192

The Apparition Test 203

News for the Dark Lord 210

The Cup is Lost 216

More Conversations Overheard 224

The Dark Lord Strikes 232

Back to the Maison 243

Appendix 255

Introduction

J K Rowling has provided us with a fantastical world of wizardry and magic that leaves much to be discovered and described by enthusiasts.

The story of Harry's triumph over Voldemort took place over seven years and held us all spellbound and ultimately satisfied that justice prevailed and that Harry avenged the death of his parents.

It is hard to believe that Harry would settle down to a life of dullness following directly on from the final battle with Voldemort, or that his followers would all disappear and cause no more trouble in the wizarding world.

We saw that the death-eaters were still active after the first downfall of Voldemort during the Quidditch world cup of 1994. This was even after a thirteen-year absence by the Dark Lord. The evil continued in his name when there was no hope of his ever returning. It is likely that they would continue their work even after this ultimate defeat.

We know that some of his followers survived and even though they appeared repentant how can we be sure that they would not carry on their old ways in some small and sinister form?

The argument of pureblood versus muggle-born wizards and witches would always carry on because people are just like that. There are those for whom differences in birth and upbringing, colour and creed mean nothing and there are those for whom this is an irritation or even an abhorrence.

There is also the question of Voldemort's actions and whereabouts during the time that Harry was still in Hogwarts under the reign of Dolores Umbridge and the year of the mystery of the Half-blood Prince.

What was he up to at that time? Doubtless preparing for the overthrow of the ministry of magic and the destruction of Albus Dumbledore, but also he must have been continuing his studies of his own heritage and the artefacts that still remained of the four Hogwarts founders.

With his powers at new heights he had the means to collect more treasures of the past and to look further into the secrets of Hogwarts castle itself. But how could this be achieved? He could not enter the castle himself and he would not want to share any information he gleaned with any of his followers. He had trusted them in the past and they had let him down again and again.

There would be only one way. He would have to place a spy in the very heart of Hogwarts itself. And why not? It had worked before with Bartie Crouch.

But who could he use for this task? He already had the use of Draco Malfoy to perform minor acts of information gathering. The boy's friends Crabbe and Goyle were too stupid and useless for such purposes.

No, it had to be someone that the Dark Lord could mould in his own image and to follow him unquestionably. He had to find a pupil to train and control in counterpart to Dumbledore and Harry Potter.

_This story is dedicated to my wife Ruth and our six wonderful children_ _KLHBKL_ A Man with a Problem

A bright blue flame burst into light and streamed into an open fireplace where the logs took hold and started to crackle and smoke. It appeared to emanate from the end of a stick that someone was holding and pointing towards the fire.

The man flicked his wrist to stop the flame and sat back in his armchair.

This was no ordinary man, however. He was a wizard and the stick that he was using to light the fire was a powerful wand. The wand was powerful and the wizard who held it was perhaps the most formidable sorcerer that the world has ever seen.

His name was, well his real name was Tom. Tom Marvolo Riddle. Not many people knew this because he had been very careful to hide this information for a long time. Years, in fact.

He had taken steps to ensure that his past, the details of his birth and upbringing that he despised, had been wiped from people's knowledge.

Once, he had been a star pupil, head boy and then a young man with a very bright future ahead. As far as his teachers and peers had thought.

But from a very early age Tom had already planned his own career.

Tom was ambitious, but in a very dark and unpleasant way. He thought nothing of using the darkest magic and violence to achieve his goals.

His ultimate aim was to become the leader of the entire wizarding world and thus the whole world as well. He did not consider that non-magical people, muggles, would be difficult to overcome.

But in order to achieve this he had to take steps and to plan carefully. He had killed when he was still a schoolboy. Killed his own father. There was nothing and no-one that mattered to him. He used people according to their value in his schemes and their abilities or savagery.

He had killed his father because it was he after whom he was named and he hated that name. Tom, so common, was not worthy of the great and glorious wizard that he was going to become.

He dropped his real name and chose another, one that would strike fear into his enemies. He named himself Voldemort.

The people that he gathered around him as henchmen and women, the followers of his ideals were called death-eaters. They had a common aim and that was to bring the wizarding population out of hiding and to rule alongside their Master.

They called Voldemort their Master and many of them adored him, seeing him as a strong leader who could unite them and bring them power and riches. Many, however, were terrified of him and only carried out his orders because they feared the reprisals if they did not satisfy his wishes.

Voldemort demanded full loyalty and obedience from his death-eaters and any others in his service. It was that or death.

His most ardent followers and his closest confidants began to refer to him as the Dark Lord. When Voldemort heard rumour of this he was not displeased and indeed much preferred it.

From there on he became more known for this title than any other and the number of people who even remembered that Tom Riddle had existed became fewer and fewer.

Along with the change in his name, Voldemort had changed his physical appearance. He was still a tall and slender man who carried himself with an air of great bearing, but his features were no longer handsome to behold.

He had been a good-looking young man at school and had even attracted the attentions of the prettiest girls. Now, however, his face had been become strangely contorted. Changed by the many spells and transfigurations that he had used upon himself in his study of the dark arts, black magic.

He had become more snake-like in appearance. His nose was flat and more like slits, his eyes were almost blood-red with cat-like pupils and his attractive long dark wavy hair was gone. If the name of Voldemort were not enough to put fear into anyone who had reason to come to his notice, then the sight of him alone would certainly terrify the unprepared.

Voldemort sat and stared into the fire. He had a problem and the problem was this..

There also lived another wizard who was as powerful, if not more so, than himself. This wizard was his nemesis. He had worked against Voldemort for a long time and his interference in the great plan was a constant thorn in his side.

This wizard was called Albus Dumbledore. He was the headmaster of the only wizarding school in Britain. A renowned school with a long and wonderful history.

Almost every wizard born in Britain was educated in this school and because Dumbledore had worked there for such a long time, he knew much about Voldemort and the death-eaters themselves. He had played a part in their training and upbringing as wizard children.

He did not, however, share their beliefs of wizard rule and had worked against them in the past and at this time too. He had contacts in the ministry and a small army of followers who also wanted to stop Voldemort and his followers from achieving their goals. The Order of the Phoenix was what they called themselves.

There was also another problem. A problem that ate away at Voldemort and it was one that he had tried to resolve several times. There was another wizard. A boy.

This boy had almost cost Voldemort his life and in an attempt to kill him he had himself been torn out of his physical body and was forced to spend the ensuing thirteen years as a mere ghost-like being.

He had been returned to a real body over a year ago using dark magic and now he wanted revenge.

The boy was called Harry Potter. Voldemort had killed the boy's parents but something had gone wrong when he cast a killing curse at the boy.

Voldemort still didn't fully understand why this had happened and he was nervous of what would happen if he tried again.

Dumbledore had taken control of Potter's life from that time onwards and had protected him from any intervention by the death-eaters. He had taught him skills to help him fight against Voldemort and had surrounded him by do-gooders and blood traitors.

Voldemort needed a solution to these problems and he had thought long and hard about how to overcome them.

This year was going to be Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts. Voldemort had recently had a duel with Dumbledore at the Ministry of Magic in London and had got close to killing both him and Potter, but he had been thwarted by the arrival of aurors and hit-wizards.

Aurors were the cream of the wizarding world. Powerful and highly trained wizards and witches who acted in a similar way to the muggle police.

After that episode Voldemort had decided to eliminate both Dumbledore and Potter. He didn't believe that Potter was a more powerful wizard than himself, but he knew that the boy possessed some hidden quality that was yet to be understood.

Voldemort had not yet formulated a plan to complete this task, but he had put a few small ideas into action. He had ordered the son of one of his death-eaters to kill Dumbledore at school, a place where Voldemort himself could not enter. This was because of the magical protection that had been put in place by the school's founders in the long ages ago.

The boy had no real chance of achieving this objective, but the information about Dumbledore's security and the protection around the Hogwarts castle would be very valuable.

But why did he not entirely trust this boy and his helpers? Sons of other death-eaters.

The reason was simple. They were only performing these tasks because they were terrified of him. They did them in order to save their own worthless lives and their families. They were not willing participants in the plans.

What he needed was another, a boy or girl who would be utterly devoted to him. He could, of course, cast a spell over a suitable candidate to make them do whatever he chose.

But those kinds of spells were short-lived and not infallible. The victim could fight against the spell over time and eventually break out of it. This would be of no use.

He needed someone to be counterpart to Harry Potter, whose relationship with Dumbledore was already shown to be one of respect and admiration.

This would be difficult because Voldemort was known and feared throughout the wizarding world. What he required was someone who, like Potter, was a young wizard but had grown up not knowing this fact. Someone at an age where he would soon be contacted by Hogwarts and be told that he was ready to attend the school and begin his wizarding education.

At birth, every child born to a witch or wizard was spellbound with the Trace. This was a simple spell that ensured that the child could be tracked or found at any time. The spell only broke when the child reached adulthood at seventeen years of age.

Voldemort had kept all his secrets close and only the most trusted death-eaters were ever given partial knowledge of his thoughts and ideas.

There was, to his memory, only one child that might fill the requirements of this particular situation. This child was also considered to be dead.

When Voldemort had been at the height of his powers fifteen years ago, he had waged war against the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix. He had identified many of their number individually and had targeted them for elimination.

Two particularly irritating enemies were husband and wife, called Arcturus and Marlene McKinnon. Auror-trained, they worked hand-in-hand with Dumbledore and the Order.

Voldemort had sent a team of death-eaters to kill them and they had successfully completed the task. At least, Arcturus and Marlene were dead along with two children and grandparents. But news had also reached him that the McKinnons had a baby that had not been accounted for.

It was a minor irritation at the time and Voldemort had taken steps to find the whereabouts of the child, so that he could send out a message of fear and intimidation to his enemies.

Eventually, a witch from the muggle-liaison committee of the Ministry of Magic had found the child at a hospital where it had been taken for a routine check-up, by family friends. Muggle friends.

Without knowing exactly why, but with a sixth sense for future events, he had murdered the witch and kept this nugget of information to himself.

Now, he understood that the child could be the answer to his problem. But first he had to find the child again and then to play a particular role. He had to gain the child's confidence and to groom him for a specific task.

The child had to become devoted to Voldemort and the cause of the death-eaters, to be trained to perform many spells. He would have to use secrecy and concealment to spy upon Dumbledore and Potter.

He would also need to be placed inside Hogwarts itself. There had to be a means of him gaining entry without it looking suspicious and for him to be able to blend in with the others. That meant giving the boy certain information, but not allowing him to know anything that could arouse the suspicions of Dumbledore, if rumour got back to him.

It would be a difficult and subtle undertaking.

The Unhappy Child

David Pryce was sitting up in his hospital bed. He had a broken collarbone and was finding it difficult to pour himself a glass of orange juice from the jug on the table at his bedside.

The neoprene sling that held his arm tightly against his chest just wouldn't move far enough to let him reach the glass. Smash! David fell back against his pillow and let out a low moan.

For three days now he had been stuck in a room on his own with no television and nobody to talk to. Three days since the accident had happened as they had been driving along a quiet road in the north of France. They had been taking a family break abroad and had rented a small cottage in the countryside.

David had been in the car with his parents. Not his real parents. William and Sarah Beaney were just another pair of foster parents with whom he had been placed. The seventh foster parents that had taken David into their home in the hope that he could be part of a real family.

The car had left the road and plunged into a ditch half-filled with dirty water. David could still smell the mud and filth.

William and Sarah had been lucky to escape without much injury, but David had not been wearing his seatbelt. In fact he had refused to wear his seatbelt and it was during the argument about this fact that the car had suddenly veered off the road and come to an unhappy end.

Strange. It was strange why the car had suddenly done this. But then strange things did happen around David Pryce.

People had the strangest accidents whenever David Pryce was around. Strange disappearances happened all the time. Mrs Mulligan's cat, the one that had scratched him when he was just a little boy. Disappeared.

Terry Gates, the school bully had been knocked down by a car minutes after threatening to bash David.

David knew that none of these things was his fault but there was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind. Did he have some sort of a guardian angel?

In the corridor outside the room David could hear Sarah crying and William talking angrily.

"If it was the first time then I could understand and forget it. But this is just too much. We could have been killed. The boy is not right in the head. We've put up with a lot of things but causing the car to crash."

David knew what was coming. Another scene of tears and regrets and "sorry but it's just not working out."

He closed his eyes and trying not to think about the pain in his shoulder. Instead, he tried to imagine what his real mother and father looked like. It was hard. He was only five months old when his parents had died. He had been told that they had gone out to work as usual but then never came back.

No explanations as to what had happened, just a visit by two women from Social Services who took him to a house with other children and then fifteen years of being shunted around from one family to another.

No memories. He couldn't really remember what life had been like with his parents around and he had no memory of his mother and father's faces at all. Even the memories of his first foster parents were getting more and more blurry.

A tear formed in the corner of his eye but it wasn't for the sadness about his parents. It was in frustration. Why did bad things always happen to him? Why could he not find a family who wanted to stay with him?

He carried on listening to William and Sarah. She seemed to want to give David another chance but it was obvious that William was not going to give in. More crying.

David wished that they would just go away and leave him in peace. He was just thinking of trying to get up when he heard another voice in the corridor. It was someone asking if he, David Pryce was in the room. It was an odd voice. More of a hiss than an accent he could recognise.

Suddenly there was a flash of brilliant green light and all went quiet. David wondered if a light bulb had popped or something. But there was no sound at all now. No arguing voices, no nothing. He wasn't scared but curious as to what had happened.

The next thing he did hear was the sound of approaching footsteps. He guessed that a doctor had come and asked the Gates to leave. He looked at the door as it opened and was surprised to see a man who didn't look like the usual type of white-coated doctor enter the room.

The man appeared to be wearing some kind of old-fashioned coat. Not a coat, but something like a teacher would wear in an old film about schools.

He stood there and looked around the room at first then came straight over to David and asked "are you David McKinnon? Son Arcturus and Marlene McKinnon?"

David was too shocked at hearing his parents' names spoken by a stranger to think of a reply.

"Yes, I see that you are" He said.

"You have the same look as your father. Same eyes and nose" he continued.

"Your parents were valuable death-eaters. Excellent followers and most highly regarded." Voldemort smiled towards David, but the truth was that the McKinnons had been enemies of his and he revelled in telling such a wicked lie.

David didn't have a clue what the man was talking about and just stared in disbelief.

"Is there something wrong with you, child? He asked.

"Did you injure your head in the accident?"

"No" replied David now coming to his senses.

"It's my collarbone. I broke it."

He didn't know why, but he felt that he could somehow trust this man. He seemed to give off an aura of benevolence towards him.

"A broken bone is easily mended. Lie still".

The man took out of his pocket a long piece of wood and pointed it at David's shoulder. He looked like a conductor about to conduct an orchestra.

"Clavicus Emendo!" he cried.

David gasped as he felt a sudden white-hot pain surge through his shoulder. And then almost as quickly it was gone and so was all the pain.

"What did you do? Gasped David?

"I mended your bone of course."

"But how? It feels all better now."

"How?" The stranger laughed a harsh braying noise.

"Why, with magic".

David felt dizzy with excitement. Was it true? Had this man just mended his collarbone in an instant with a magic wand? No, surely this was too good to believe.

"I see that you have never seen magic performed before" he said.

"No, I mean yes I have" stammered David.

"I saw my mother change a pillow into a teddy bear. I just forgot that I had seen it."

And in the corner of his mind he could dimly remember seeing his mother waving a stick in front of him and the teddy appearing as if by magic. It was the first memory he had ever had of his mother

"I forgot all about it. I've never seen it since then. Is my collarbone really mended?"

"Of course it is. Try lifting your arm now."

David raised his arm as high a he could, then circled it around forwards and back. There was no pain.

"How did you do it?" he asked.

"And who are you? Did you know my parents? My real parents?"

The man smiled and nodded. The man's face was a peculiar shape, more snake-like than anything else. He had a really tiny nose, or did he even have a nose at all? David felt no fear and even thought the man looked a bit comical in his strange clothes.

"Do you not fear me?" Asked the man.

"Why should I" replied David.

The man smiled again and a light was in his eyes that made David think that he liked him.

"You have nothing to fear from me" said the man.

"In fact, when you are by my side you have nothing to fear from anyone or anything, ever again."

"Have you come to take me back to the children's home?"

David supposed that the man was not a doctor but from Social Services. He would be taken back to the children's home until another set of parents could be arranged to take him in, another disappointment.

"No. I want to take you away from all of this. Away from the muggles who have twisted your mind and lied to you and denied you your place in the wizarding world. I want to take you somewhere where nobody will ever be able to tell you what to do ever again."

"But what about William and Sarah? What about the Social Services?"

The man laughed out loud again. He seemed highly amused.

"They cannot touch you now. Come with me, I have much to show you."

David got out of bed and looked around for his clothes. They were nowhere to be seen.

"I don't know where they put my clothes" he told the stranger.

The man looked at him with a slight smile and waved a lazy hand in the direction of the door.

"Accio Vestimenta!"

He stood and watched David with a curious expression and almost delight as a rustling sound came from the corridor.

David's face was a picture of amazement as he saw a full set of clothes walk into the room with nobody inside them. His trainers made a tapping sound along the floor as they rushed to keep up with the jeans and jumper that looked as if an invisible man was taking them for a stroll.

"How are they…" He began, but shut his mouth when he saw the expression on the man's face. The stranger seemed pleased with David's reaction to more magic.

"All this and more I will teach you" he said.

"I have chosen you from a thousand other children for a very special task."

"Of course things will take a little more time because you were lost to the wizarding world for so long. But now that I have found you we can put things back in order. In time you will replace your parents and stand by my side as I carry out all my plans for wizard rule."

"I really don't understand" said David as he began to dress and noticed that his socks and pants were missing, but didn't mention it. He somehow felt that the man might not take kindly to this small oversight.

"All will be made clear. Now come and see what your destiny will bring."

David finished tying his laces and looked up at the man.

"I don't know your name. Who are you?"

The man looked directly into David's eyes and a smouldering glow filled them as he spoke.

"My name is of no consequence child and you will address me as 'my Lord'. I will call you 'apprentice' and you will answer to this name only to me. Nobody else will be told your name and I instruct you not to give your real name to any other. Your old name will be left behind. Forget that you ever knew it. I could force you to do this by altering your mind, but I do not feel that I need to do this. Not yet at least."

The man then held David in his snake-like stare, unblinking and powerful.

"Will you do this thing for me?" He said.

David looked back at him and knew in his heart of hearts that he meant it as he said "I will" and after a short pause he added "my Lord."

The stranger seemed assured at this.

"I see that you speak the truth and that is good. So I will utter my name just this one time and you will never repeat it. Understand?"

"Yes my Lord."

The lights seemed to dim in the room as if a dark cloud had suddenly surrounded them.

"I am Lord Voldemort."

A New Home

David felt a thrill of intense excitement at the name. He didn't know why but the name seemed to carry a powerful enchantment. He looked around for anything that he could take with him but there was nothing there.

"What about my things at the house? He asked.

"You will no longer need the trappings of a muggle home" said Voldemort.

"I will provide for you. Now we must go."

"But where are we going?"

"A place that is hidden. The servant of one of my followers will look after you and has been given strict instructions not to ask any questions of you. I will attend to your education and instruction in your task for me when time allows."

"Now take my hand and see how one of the true blood can move time and space at his command."

David grasped Voldemort's hand and was surprised to find it cold and clammy. The vice-like grip on his own hand became increasingly strong, almost painful. Then with a sudden stomach-wrenching pull he felt himself dragged into a whirling spinning world. He felt sick and dizzy as colours spun around him and he fell through a never-ending space.

Then just as he was about to scream for it to stop, he felt himself hit solid ground. David however kept on falling and only the grip of Voldemort prevented him from bashing his head on the floor. He hung stupidly by his arm and Voldemort laughed his mirthless laugh again.

"You will get used to that" he said.

"I hope so." Said David, who didn't feel at that moment that magical travel was so great.

He looked around and saw that they were no longer in the hospital room but outside the front door of an old house. A big house that must have had five or six bedrooms and surrounded by large grounds with many trees. It looked old like a country estate that David had seen pictures of in a magazine.

"This is the home of two of my most devoted followers. They are how can I put this, indisposed at the moment. They have recently been released from the wizards' prison called Azkaban and are at present living as permanent guests in the home of another of my followers. This is but a temporary inconvenience. They shall soon be allowed more freedom and then one of them will come here and help in your training."

Voldemort led David into the house, the door opening before them. Inside was a double staircase leading to the upper floor and a large wooden double-door opening into a large sitting room.

The room was sparsely furnished with just a few dusty old armchairs with high backs and one large settee in front of an open fire. There was also a big dresser with a selection of books. The room was lit by an oil lamp on a table and candles in holders around the walls.

As David looked around and tried to take in the whole situation he noticed something move near the fire.

He jumped back as a terrified-looking tiny figure moved into the light. There before him crouched an emaciated creature of human form but not a human.

"You! Elf." Growled Voldemort.

"Fetch food and drink for my apprentice, then show him his room and the rest of the house."

David stared in amazement at the thing as it squeaked and ran off as quickly as it could. He saw that it was wearing a filthy potato sack and no shoes. From the short glimpse of it before it ran off he could see that it had a large knobbly head with huge protruding eyes. Its ears were as large as a donkeys but without the hair. They were pointed at the end and flapping down at the sides of the head.

"It is a house elf." Said Voldemort.

"It will give you what you need. They are vermin but can be used to perform menial tasks."

David was speechless. Were house elves dangerous?

"I must leave now to make other preparations." Said Voldemort.

"Read the books and remember as much as you can. Expect my return in a week or two."

Voldemort spoke that last few words with a finality that suggested that David would have to fend for himself for a short while and that questions about Voldemort's whereabouts would not be answered.

Voldemort gave David one final look and then turned and with a swish of his cloak walked out of the room and with a crack was suddenly gone.

David was alone. Alone in a strange house and who knows where? It was a lot to take in for a fifteen-year-old boy.

Over the years of being moved around David had acquired a tough way of dealing with new people and places, but this was something different. He had become used to taking things as they came, but going from boy in hospital bed to boy being show real magic and taken to a house inhabited by strange creatures in such a short time was, well, odd to say the least.

He looked around and tried to take it all in but it was all a bit overwhelming. The room was very big and because of the flickering light of the lamps was filled with dark shadows.

He wandered over to the table and looked at the books lying there. They were dusty old volumes with leather covers and with curious titles.

The first that he picked up was surprisingly heavy and the pages were of thick parchment though David just knew it as paper. The colour was a dark red and there was a gold-lettered title "The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1" and an author's name Miranda Goshawk.

David let it fall open and saw a page with a pencil drawn picture of a man with his head resting on a table and "Aah!" he dropped the book and stepped back.

The man in the picture had raised an arm and scratched his head. The picture had actually moved! The book lay open on the table at the same page and David edged forward and peered warily at the image. The man seemed to have stopped moving again, or was he? He was snoring. The man was asleep and the picture was moving to show it.

Above the picture was a heading "Simple Sleeping Spells" and below and on the opposite page were several words in a bold text and presumably a description of the spell accompanying each one.

Somnus!

_This simple spell will cause the recipient to go into an instant sleep. The spell will last for five _

_minutes or longer depending on the power of the incantation. The motion of the wand and wrist action is illustrated below._

Again there was a drawing of a hand holding a wand that was making a circular motion and flicking towards the intended victim of the spell.

David laughed with glee and picked up the book, flicking through the pages and noting with relish that most of the pictures in the book were moving. More magic.

He threw the book to one side and read the titles of the others. There was a dirty black book with a silver lining and silver lettering showed it to be called "An Introduction to the Dark Arts" by Gerontius Filbert.

Inside the cover was a library card holder with a coat of arms printed on it. There were four animals on the crest and a big letter 'H'.

Again David flicked through the pages and he noted that someone had written in the margins of the book here and there. This book didn't seem to be as interesting as there were few illustrations and a lot of writing.

The third book was a bright blue colour and with many pages. It was titled "Potions for Beginners" by Hereward Tincture. It looked more like a recipe book and was full of lists of ingredients and short descriptions of how to make the various brews. David thought it was probably very boring and he dropped it onto the table.

Just then he heard a door creak open and then close with a click. From the darkness at the side of the room he watched the little elf move towards him carrying a large silver salver. She checked around the room to make sure that Voldemort was no longer there and then she placed the salver on a little table by the fire and removed the lid. The delicious smell of roasted chicken arose and David felt suddenly very hungry.

The elf beckoned David to come and sit in the armchair beside the fire and as he approached he could see that there was a jug of juice as well.

The elf sat David down and pulled off his shoes putting them by the side of the fire where it was warm and dry.

"Pinky has made chicken sandwiches and cream buns for you" she said. On the salver were a white plate with a pile of sandwiches and a side dish with two huge cream-filled buns. David took a sandwich and began to eat with relish. He looked at the elf, who stood there watching him eat and seemingly pleased that he liked the food.

"Who is Pinky?" Asked David.

"I is Pinky" squeaked the elf. "I is called Pinky. I made the supper for you, Master apprentice".

"You don't need to call me apprentice" laughed David.

"You can call me.."

"No-oooo!" squealed Pinky, covering her ears with her large hands.

"Master must not say his name to Pinky."

"Why not?"

"Because the Dark Lord commands it" she replied.

"We must obey the Dark Lord whenever he asks for something. Nobody dares to disobey him. Pinky will not disobey her orders."

David could see that she was serious and although he couldn't see why she should be so scared to disobey Voldemort, he accepted it.

"Can you tell me more about yourself?" He asked.

"I don't know where I am or what this place is or anything."

"I is Pinky the house elf of Master Rodolphus and mistress Bellatrix Lestrange." Said Pinky with a sense of pride.

"I is looking after this house since I was young and even when the Master and mistress is away."

David had spent a lot of time in children's homes and was used to having his meals made for him by housekeepers. Although Pinky was a most unusual person he was not taken aback to find that this big house needed a live-in housekeeper.

"The house is called Maison Des Charmes. We is hidden from muggles by spells put on the forest around us. If they comes into the forest they gets lost and always comes back out from where they started."

David was impressed that magic could do such a thing. Was there anything that magic couldn't do? He began to get excited at the thought that he might one day be able to do the same kind of thing himself.

"Has Master apprentice visited the South of France before?" Asked Pinky.

"South France?" David was stunned.

"Yes, Master."

David and Voldemort must have travelled hundreds of miles in a matter of seconds. It was unbelievable.

"No. I thought we were in the North, somewhere near Paris."

Pinky giggled and her ears flapped as she tried to hold her mouth shut to stop the sound.

David giggled too at the sight of her.

"Pinky is a pretty cool name. Is there anybody else living here?"

"Oh no, Master apprentice" said Pinky.

"We house elves is the only ones here now. The Dark Lord returns every now and again, but Pinky hides when he is here and only comes out if he commands it. Pinky must follow orders from the Lestrange family and many years ago they telled Pinky to obey the Dark Lord."

"Can I look around the rest of the house?" Asked David.

"Of course, Master apprentice. Pinky will like to show you the home of the Lestranges."

She held out a hand to indicate the direction of the door and David instinctively took hold of it. Pinky jumped with shock and looked fearfully at David, but when she saw his smiling face she gave a look of sheer joy and pulled him quickly towards the opening.

They almost ran together through the door and along the corridor and David laughed as Pinky gave a running commentary of everything that could be seen in the semidarkness.

"This is the library when Master Rodolphus keeps his collection of books and papers. Lots and lots of shelves in there.."

"..and here is the portrait of Mademoiselle Eloise Lestrange, the great-aunt of Master Rodolphus.."

"..Here is the dining room. You can eat here if you likes; there is a nice view of the garden and forest through the tall windows.."

Pinky yanked on David's arm and turned him round and up a magnificent spiral staircase at the end of the corridor. Davis felt dizzy with the turn of the spiral and the laughing combined.

Pinky seemed to be having the time of her life and David wondered if she had ever had the chance to do the same thing before.

"..this is the bathroom that Master apprentice will use and next to it is the visitor bedroom where young Master will sleep."

David made to open the door of the room, but Pinky dragged him further on and continued to describe the rooms and furniture.

When at last Pinky seemed to have run out of energy and had shown David almost every corner of the huge house. Three floors and an attic, plus cellars that Pinky said contained a great collection of fine wines that Rodolphus had collected over many years. There were rooms that Pinky said were out of bounds to David and there must have been many other secret or hidden rooms, but there was just too much for David to take in all at one go.

"Pinky will show Master apprentice to his room and Pinky will come and wake him in the morning for breakfast."

They went back to the room she had shown him earlier and she opened the door and led him through.

David was pleasantly surprised to find a big four-poster bed with thick heavy drapes. It looked very comfortable and big enough for four people to sleep in.

The room was still lit by the dying sun and clouds of dust could be seen floating in the sunbeams. David let go of Pinky's hand and walked over to the window to take in the view of the forest. It looked very green and dark inside.

He turned around to say this to Pinky and was stunned to see now that she had beautiful large pink eyes. She was standing looking at him with almost adoration.

"I didn't see before that you have pink eyes. They look amazing." He said.

Pinky blushed almost as pink as her eyes and she squeezed her hands together with delight.

"Pinky will wake Master apprentice in the morning. Good night, sir!"

She did a small curtsey and fled the room. David gazed after her and felt that he might possibly have a friend that he could spend his time with in the new home.

Sorcery and Secrets

Pinky was as good as her word and just after dawn the next morning David was woken by the sound of curtains being drawn. He had fallen asleep on top of the bed covers where he had been watching the comings and goings of the people in the paintings on the wall.

"Master must wash and change his clothes. Pinky has found some robes that will fit him."

Pinky then draped some strange clothes over the edge of the bed and waited for David to say something.

"Thank you, Pinky. Do I have time for a quick bath?" He asked.

"Of course, Master. Pinky has run a bath next door and she will put out the breakfast when she hears him coming downstairs."

She hurried out of the room and David laughed at the strange situation that he has found himself in. It was like being in an all-expenses paid hotel and he intended to make the most of it while it lasted, seeing that being brought to new homes had always turned out so badly in the past.

He took the robes through to the bathroom and after undressing jumped into the deep warm water in the bath. He relaxed for a short while then after remembering the waiting breakfast he washed and dried off as quickly as he could.

The robes felt very heavy and his first impression when he looked into a full-length looking glass was that he looked like someone going to a fancy-dress party.

But he shrugged his shoulders, winked at himself and went downstairs.

Breakfast was as good as any he ever had before. Pinky had provided eggs, bacon, mushrooms, and fried tomatoes, along with a rack of hot toast and a steaming pot of freshly brewed tea. There was also a jug of squeezed orange juice with the orangey bits still floating around in it.

David ate as much as he could and it was hard to leave anything on his plate as it all tasted so delicious. But after he was full to bursting he finally stood up and went to take another look through the windows and at the forest.

Pinky cleaned up the breakfast things and then returned and stood behind him.

"Does Master need anything more at the moment?" She asked.

"No, thank you Pinky. I think I should make a start on reading through the books that the Dark Lord left for me."

Pinky curtsied and left, telling David that lunch would be ready when the clock on the mantelpiece told him so.

David thought about what she had said and took a quick peek at the clock in question. It looked like a normal wooden clock with a white face and gold surround, but with a golden gong perched on the top.

"Dinner-gong, I suppose." David thought to himself.

He took one of the books from the table and after testing each of the armchairs and the sofa in turn he found the most comfortable one and dragged it over by the window where he could see better to read.

"The Standard Book of Spells, eh?" He thought. And without further ado he opened the book and began to read and then try to remember the spells one-by-one.

It was an interesting task, to discover the sorts of feats that could be accomplished with just a few magic words. After an hour or so, though, it became a bit wearisome. He couldn't actually perform the spells. He had tried saying them in varying degrees of accent and power, but without the wand to accompany the words it was obvious that nothing would happen.

"What I need is a wand." He thought to himself.

"I wonder where Pinky is? I need someone to test me on the spells I've memorised."

There was nothing for it at the moment but to carry on with the learning and to hope that the spells would actually work when he had the wand to work with.

It didn't seem much longer when the clock on the mantelpiece gave an almighty 'clang!' to indicate that lunch might be about to be served. Pinky duly came in with the silver salver and laid it on the table.

As she removed the lid and began to set out the cutlery David came and stood by her to watch.

She took great care in setting out everything as neatly as she could and occasionally turned her head to look at David and then quickly flushed and carried on.

"Aren't you having any lunch?" Asked David, as he noticed there was only one plate.

"Pinky is not allowed to eat with the Masters, sir." She said.

"I is eating always downstairs in the scullery."

"But what if I wanted you to eat with me, to keep me company? Is that allowed?"

Pinky opened her eyes wide and stared in disbelief at David. It was his turn to blush this time. He hadn't meant to upset her.

She blinked and twisted her hands and seemed to think about the question for a moment.

"If Master orders Pinky to eat with him then she must do as he says, but Pinky has never eaten with wizards before. They does not think that Pinky should do such a thing. The Dark Lord would be very angry if he found Pinky eating with Master apprentice."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone if you do eat with me. It's just a bit lonely sitting here on my own. Please, I want to ask you some more questions about wizards and stuff."

Pinky seemed to be caught in two minds about it, but then said "Pinky will sit with Master while he eats his lunch and will answer his questions, but is too scared to eat with him."

"Then I won't order you to do it." He said.

Pinky grinned widely and ran to get a footstool from by the fire, then came and sat at his side. She gazed up at him and smiled, her eyes gleaming.

"Can you tell me more about wizards and house-elves and the people whose house this is?"

Pinky took a great breath and then told him about wizards in seclusion around the world and how they keep their communities secret from the bigger muggle populations. How they are governed by laws of secrecy and system that rules the way that they can behave.

She also told him about the role of house-elves in their society and how they prefer to be in service to wizards. How they can perform their own kinds of magic, but without the need for wands.

She also told him about the way that wizards are usually brought up at home until they are eleven years old, and then are sent off to school and be trained in the magical arts.

She was a practical mine of information about the hidden world that David had never knew existed.

He was shocked to find that there other breeds of magical creatures that also lived and were found here and there, including giants and dragons. It seemed that a lot of the so-called mythological creatures he had read about in books were real and as dangerous as the stories told.

They talked long into the afternoon and Pinky was as excited to talk about the world of magic as David was to hear of it.

He was disappointed to find that he needed to visit a wand-maker to find a wand that would work best for him. He was also worried about how he could possibly catch up with the five years' worth of magical education that he had missed.

"Pinky is sure that Master apprentice will learn quickly." She re-assured him. David was eager to practice what he had learned so far.

The following days were taken up in much the same way, with David having his meals at the table with Pinky and she telling him more and more stories.

He continued to read and memorise the contents, and Pinky helped him by testing him on what he could remember from the previous day.

After five days, David had read the whole of the first spellbook and was pretty good at reciting the incantations and miming the wand movements. Pinky helped out by pretending that the spell had been cast correctly, and she took great delight in fainting, throwing herself backwards, or puffing out her cheeks and going cross-eyed at David's use of the stinging hex.

"If Master chooses to learn from the potion book next, then Pinky can provide ingredients and a cauldron for him to use." She said.

David was surprised and happy to hear this. At last there was something practical that he could do. He asked Pinky to get him what she thought he would need and meanwhile he thumbed through the potion-making book to find something suitably noisy or smelly to brew.

He was keen to get started on something, but not so stupid as to think about making any kind of poison or anything so dangerous.

He settled on a potion to cause laughter in the drinker. This didn't look to be too difficult or dangerous. Only four ingredients, and just thirty minutes to brew.

Pinky brought in a small copper cauldron and a burner to set it upon. Inside the cauldron were a set of scales and an assortment of packets and bottles. She unpacked the contents and assembled them on a small card-table.

"Has Master used a cauldron before?" She asked.

"I've never so much as boiled an egg before, Pinky." He laughed.

"But I'll give it a go anyway."

"Master must be careful not to set fire to the curtains" she grinned.

David laughed again and then looked around at the curtains. He decided to shift the table nearer to the fireplace, just in case.

He carefully measured out the exact amounts of each ingredient. Two flat silver teaspoons of essence of whortleberry, one puffskein brain. The brain looked more like a peanut than anything else, and David wondered what on earth a puffskein was.

Six drops of tincture of myrrh and one leaf of a whomping willow tree. Each was added in order, to a gill of boiling water and after a couple of minutes the brain was heard to pop. This turned the concoction into a bright red colour.

The whole cauldron was left to simmer for the allotted time and at this point the liquid turned instantly dark red. David took the cauldron off the heat and left it on the fire hearth to cool.

Throughout the whole process Pinky had watched David, fascinated by his eagerness and what looked like a pretty good ability.

"Shall Pinky test the potion for Master now?" She asked.

"Oh no, I think I'd better be the first one to try it." He replied.

"I don't want anything horrible to happen to you."

"But we doesn't know if it is safe to drink yet. I is only a house-elf, it does not matter if Pinky gets poisoned by Master." She said, quite unashamedly.

"What? No way, Pinky. You're my friend, I'll try it first."

Pinky flushed with pride and filled a small glass with the red liquid.

David took the glass and raised it to his lips.

"Here goes nothing." He said and downed the potion in one gulp.

He creased his forehead at first, but then smacked his lips. After a few seconds his mouth twitched, then his shoulders shuddered, and the next thing he was laughing uncontrollably.

Pinky stared with round eyes at David as he held onto her arm and tried to speak. Tears were streaming from his eyes as he hiccuped and filled the glass again.

"Try some." He managed to gasp.

"It tastes okay." He chuckled and gave it to her.

Pinky sipped at the glass, and after a moment took a bigger gulp. Within seconds her ears began to jiggle up and down. This made David point and roar with laughter.

Pinky too began to laugh with a high-pitched squeaking noise. She appeared at first to be surprised by the sound she was making and the more she tried to stop herself, the louder she became.

Soon the pair of them were holding on to each other, helpless in gales of laughter and with tears flowing.

David had never enjoyed himself so much in his whole life. This magic stuff was getting better and better.

Suddenly without warning David saw Pinky's crinkled up face turn to a mask of horror as she looked at something she had suddenly seen behind him. She pulled away and ran out of the room still giggling, but with a terrible shrieking sound added.

David turned around to find the figure of Lord Voldemort standing behind him.

Memories are made of This

His face was impassive, but David was sure that Voldemort had not expected to find him in such a state.

He was still giggling but trying his best to hold it back.

"The laughter potion." Said Voldemort, looking at the contents of the cauldron and the open book.

"Yes." Spluttered David.

"I had no idea that it worked on non-humans. It may prove useful to know that more than one potion will have the same effect on them. I've only used one other potion on a house-elf."

David tried to look attentive, but he was shaking too much with inner laughter.

Voldemort took out his wand and waved it nonchalantly at David and immediately his laughter stopped. David was very relieved because his ribs were actually beginning to hurt now. He wondered how long the laughing would have continued and what effect it might have had if he had not been able to stop it.

"You will learn that some spells and potions are more dangerous than they appear at first glance." Said Voldemort.

"This potion will carry on working for about an hour, but if had been taken from a bottle that has been stored and allowed to mature for a year or more, then it takes a very strong antidote to stop it."

"If it is strong enough, the drinker can even choke to death as they are unable to breathe. They laugh themselves to death."

David breathed his own sigh of relief and Voldemort sniffed.

"How did you stop the potion from working?" Asked David.

Voldemort looked at David appraisingly and answered "I can perform spells without having to say them out loud. I didn't stop the potion from working, that would require you to take an antidote. I cast a spell to relax you, it merely masks the symptoms until you recover properly."

David was suitable impressed and said so.

"That is amazing." He laughed with genuine appreciation.

Voldemort waved his wand around the room and every candle along the wall and in the chandeliers lit up brightly and the room showed itself full for the first time.

"You have missed years of potential education at Hogwarts and I do not have enough time to teach you what you need to catch up on, in the conventional manner." He said.

"What I can do, however, is to give you the memory of having taken the lessons yourself. You will think that you were actually there in class and will be able to use spells, hexes and brew potions that any other student of your age could do."

David couldn't believe his ears.

"Is that possible?"

"I will make it so." Voldemort replied.

"I have already acquired the memories that you need. They are from a student who attended the Beauxbatons wizarding school here in France."

"You will remember the names of your Professors and friends at the school, all your lessons and all about the school itself. You will be given no memory of the student's family or upbringing which could cause you to become confused."

Voldemort seemed to have taken a great deal of effort to prepare the memories for David and now he was keen to get started. He gave no thought as to whom the student was, or how the memories had been taken from him. It was a part of David's character to accept gifts without question, and often without thanks.

Voldemort directed David to sit down in an armchair and he did so, bracing himself for who knew what.

Voldemort then produced a mysteriously glowing jar from a large inner pocket of his robes. From within the jar there emanated bluish swirling light. It appeared to be coming from cloudy strands of material interweaving with each other.

"Relax and we will begin." Said Voldemort.

David rested his head on the back of the chair and closed his eyes. A small smile played across his face. Behind him a bigger smile broke out on Voldemort's face, but it was one of triumph not of joy. His plans were coming together better than he had expected.

Voldemort took his wand and the top of the jar spun off and flew across the room. He then placed the tip into the swirling mass and lifted out a long twisting strand of memory. His eyes glowed yellow and his nostrils flared as he moved it towards David's head.

The strand wormed its way into David's ear and slowly disappeared inside. David lifted slightly in his chair and then relaxed again as he felt a surge of tingling warmth flow through his brain.

He instantly forgot who or where he was and began to see flashing visions of people and places he had never been before. Or had he? Surely he knew who the people were. It was Jean-Claude, his friend. He had forgotten to hand in his Transfiguration homework, a full foot of parchment on changing the colour of different materials. No, he had done the homework, it had been easy to transcolour wooden blocks using the 'spectral transformance' spell.

Sitting his exams in the great hall, with its beautiful high arches and spiralling stonework below a huge transparent dome.

One by one Voldemort took each strand of memory and inserted it into David's ear. When he had finished and the jar was empty, he stood back and waited for a sign of recognition from David.

Meanwhile David was undergoing his own personal transformation inside his head. The memories were not in any particular order of time and he was soon sitting at the front of the great hall in front of hundreds of other students.

It was his first day at school and he was being sorted into his house. A blue cloak was lying on a table at his side and the woman in front of him instructed him to put it on.

As he pulled the hood over his head he heard a voice speak to him.

"Hmm what house to put you in? You have hidden talent and come from a family with a long history at Beauxbatons. Did you know that your great-grandmother was head girl and gained triple distinctions in her Exames Elevees?"

David didn't know that, nor could he ever remember having a great-grandmother, or even a grandmother.

"I will therefore place you in Sournois. The house most suited to pureblood wizards."

"Sournois!" It exclaimed to the whole school, and David threw off the cloak and received a red and black sash that was placed over his shoulder and pinned to his robes with a clasp in the shape of a black raven.

"Raven." Said David.

"What was that?" Asked Voldemort.

"My house at Beauxbatons. It is the raven. Sournois."

Voldemort's eyes lit up and he laughed with delight. Another small victory in his fight against Dumbledore.

"You have done well tonight, apprentice. I will now leave you again to give the memories time to settle in. You will have a few days of confusion, but you should be able to recall many of the spells and incantations you have just been given."

"I will not know if the memories are completely taken until my death-eaters have been brought out of their imprisonment." He added.

"One of them knows much about Beauxbatons and he will confirm that you can remember the details of the school and its ways."

David was lost in a maelstrom of memories thundering through his mind at breakneck speed, but he had the wits to reply.

"Thank you, Master."

Voldemort was satisfied with this and he regarded David with a keen eye. David felt as if Voldemort was staring right into his mind, but he was to befuddled to make anything of the reason why.

"When I next return, I will take you into Paris and we will obtain all the clothing, books and equipment that you will need for Hogwarts."

"Am I not returning to Beauxbatons?" He asked, confused.

"No. You duties will be in the Hogwarts castle. I will explain all to you when you are ready. We will also obtain for you a suitable wand."

David's eyes opened wide at this.

"A wand? Really?"

"Of course a wand."

"You need a wand that will be matched to your own character and persona. I can not give you the wand of another, it would not work fully for you. The wand chooses the wizard, I know this well."

David could hardly contain his excitement at the thought of owning his own wand, one that would only work for him.

Without knowing why, he dropped onto one knee and kissed the hem of Voldemort's cloak.

The look on Voldemort's face was unfathomable. He placed his hand on David's head for a second and then turned and walked out of the door.

David looked up again and saw that Voldemort had disappeared without a sound. He began to cry.

He lay down, curled up on the floor and fell asleep, where he dreamed of walking through the halls of Beauxbatons with Jean-Claude. Why did Jean-Claude keep calling him Davide? It was pronounced 'David', everyone knew that. Or was it? Davide or David?

A soft hand clasped his own, and David awoke to find Pinky stroking his hand and with tears dripping down her face. At the sight of his coming to his senses she smiled widely and spoke softly.

"Is Master apprentice feeling any better?"

David couldn't yet get his bearings and he sat up for a few moments before realising who was with him and where he was.

"Why is it that I can understand what people are saying in my memories of Beauxbatons, but I don't speak French?"

Pinky stared at him and didn't know what to say.

"I'm okay now, Pinky. It's just a bit confusing to sort out what is real and what isn't. But I know how to do magic!"

David leapt to his feet and began to recite spells at random.

"Wingardium Leviosa! Petrificus Totalis!" He cast imaginary spells here and there and jumped up onto the sofa waving an imaginary wand.

Pinky was delighted at his recovery and followed him around clapping her hands with glee.

"Clever Master Apprentice, so clever he is." She exclaimed happily.

David grabbed Pinky around the waist and danced around the room with her, lifting her off the floor and making her dizzy as they spun around and around.

"Woo-oo." Said Pinky as her eyes spun and wobbled.

"Pinky will go and make supper for Master. Pinky feels a bit dizzy now."

She weaved her way out of the room again and David watched her and grinned. He felt on top of the world.

Magic spells, potions he could make in an instant, a wand. He really would be a wizard soon.

Flight of Fancy

David went to bed early that night and was soon fast asleep. He had felt a bit dizzy himself with all the new memories floating through his head.

In his dream he was back again at Beauxbatons. He was descending a wide marble staircase and opening a wide wooden door that led into a room lit by light coming from windows at one side.

Along the opposite wall was a long seat about two feet high and stretching the whole length of twenty feet or so. Further on there were many small cupboards built into the wall and at their side a passageway leading to another room. This must be a changing-room for sports.

He quickly walked through the first room and found that the passage led to a shower-room, but off it to one side there was another open room. This one was lined with dozens of broomsticks stood upright in holders along the walls.

Some had small labels fixed above them, each with the name of a wizard, the owner of the broomstick. Others had yellow-coloured tape around the end with golden 'B's embossed on them. They must have belonged to the school.

He went in and picked up a tape-marked broom. It felt a lot lighter than he was expecting, but he instinctively knew what he was doing.

The sound of someone coming down the stairs and walking through the changing-room made him turn. It was Jean-Claude.

"Hi, Daffers." He said with a grin and clapped David on the shoulder.

"Hey there, Jonky." Replied David.

Jonky looked to be around thirteen years old. He was tall for his age and had a flop of light brown hair that fell in front of his brown eyes. He had to keep brushing it back with one hand every time he looked down and then up again.

"Last one to the monument and back gets to pay for the peppermint sodas." He said with a glint of a challenge in his eye.

"You better get your money ready then." Laughed David.

They raced out of the room and up the staircase and then along a corridor that had many glass cases fixed to the wall. These contained silver and golden shields and trophies.

There was no time to glance at the names engraved on them. They ran out of the door at the end of the corridor and went through into bright sunshine. They looked out onto a wide grassy field where dozens of students alone, or in groups were enjoying the sun.

"Nothing beats a quick burn-up to clear the mind after a hard day's examinations, eh?" Said Jonky.

"After three." Said David.

"One, two, three!"

They threw their right legs over the broomsticks and leapt forwards into the air.

David gasped as the ground fell away from him. He knew what he was doing, he had flown a hundred times before. So why did it feel like it was the first time? This was fantastic.

He flew with his body flat against the broom, to try and get the maximum speed out of it. The wind rushed through his hair and stung his eyes, but the coolness of it felt good against the heat of the sun.

He looked sideways and saw Jonky looking and laughing at him, so he leant to the right a little and bumped his leg against him.

"Hey hey, no cheating!" He shouted.

They were about thirty feet up in the air and the green grass flashed by beneath them. At the far end of the field there was a white marble fifty-foot high statue of a witch. She gazed out towards the school with her hands palm-outwards as if she was presenting something of great worth.

It was the monument to the founder of the school Eloise Beauxbatons. She had dedicated her life to the education of young witches and wizards at a time in French history when they were being persecuted more severely than at any other.

She was proud of her school and the teachers still instil in the students a sense of pride and honour. They believe it to be the best wizarding school in the whole world.

David felt a surge of inner pride as he rounded the statue and turned back towards the school. More than a school, it was a palace of great beauty and elegance.

A long frontispiece with many windows faced the front lawn that was immaculately kept, with many topiaries and fountains. Though he could not see it, he knew that the rear gardens were a wonder to behold. When magic is mixed with garden design the result is something magnificent.

David came out of his reverie to see that Jonky had edged ahead of him and was whooping with joy.

There was nothing to be done. His broom was only as good as the one that Jonky was using. Standard school 'Meteor 7's. One day he would buy a broomstick of his own and he knew which one he wanted, a 'Featherlite'.

Jonky touched down and raised his arm in a victory salute.

"Well done, mate." Said David, as he touched down gracefully.

"Hard luck, Daffers. Looks like the drinks are on you tonight." Jonky shook David's hand and they strolled back towards the entrance with their broomsticks over their shoulders.

In his sleep David smiled broadly and turned over.

He was now up in the air again and flying through low-level clouds. The cold air against his face was making his eyes stream. He pointed the broomstick downwards and his speed increased as he headed towards the ground.

Suddenly he was out of the clouds and dropping like a stone into the middle of a vast stadium. Below him he saw a dozen or so other flyers zipping around, some seemed to follow one of the others. What was going on?

They were passing something between themselves. No, it was two teams of players, one side wearing the read and black colours of Sournoir and the others clad in the blue and white of Cossou.

"Of course! The Quidditch house cup!" David told himself.

"We lost to Rouerie last month and we need to win this game to have a chance of winning the trophy."

The Beauxbatons Quidditch cup was the highlight of the school year for a lot of the wizards and witches who were mad on the sport. Each house played the others three times and the overall points winner took the cup and title.

David was playing as seeker for the very first time. He was usually the substitute, but a week earlier Genevieve Montreaux had accidentally transformed herself into a holly bush during class. She was still recovering in the infirmary and so David had been elevated to a starting role on the team.

He was looking for any sign of the golden snitch. A glint of sun-on-metal, anywhere around the field.

It seemed like the whole school was packed into the seats on one side of the arena. They were going crazy and making a loud noise that whooshed past his ears.

There it was!

David had been lucky and the snitch was dancing around one of the end goal hoops, just where he was aiming. He chanced a look behind to see if the other seeker was nearby, and saw her thirty yards away trying to pull her broomstick around to give chase.

Too late for her, David closed in on the snitch and grabbed it as it was changing direction again. They had won the game!

The rest of his team gathered around him and they hugged and clapped each other on the shoulders. Then when the congratulations were over they lined up in formation and flew a lap of honour around the stadium.

David laughed and waved to the crowd, holding the snitch up high in celebration. He rolled the broomstick gently to the left and then woke up with a jolt as he fell off the bed.

Lord of the Manor

The bedroom door creaked open and David peered over the bed to find Pinky coming in with his breakfast on a tray.

"Why is Master apprentice hiding under the bed?" She asked him.

David looked at her a little sheepishly and picked himself up.

"Fell off my broomstick." He said, without thinking. Then felt even more stupid when he realised what he had said.

Pinky blinked and the side of her face began to tic. She had to turn away as she filled up with silent giggles and her shoulders began to heave.

After a minute she seemed to gather herself up and turned to face David again. He just lay there with a look of blank bewilderment on his face.

"Master apprentice must dress soon and come downstairs. Pinky has just received a message from her true Master." She said this with a slight hesitation, as if she were not sure if this was a good or bad news.

"Master Rodolphus will be returning here this afternoon. Pinky must make preparations."

David jumped up at this news. Another wizard coming to the house? It looked like he would be able to find out more about the wizarding world and maybe even his parents too. But how would the house-owner react to finding David living under his roof?

He quickly dressed and suddenly the thought struck him that he had only set of robes and he had been wearing them for days on end, yet they always smelled clean and fresh each morning. He was used to having his laundry done for him, but there was usually more than one pair of trousers and a shirt in the wardrobe.

"Pinky, have you been washing my clothes in the night while I'm asleep?"

"Of course, Master. It is the sign of a good house-elf that she does the housework without being seen or heard." She looked at him with pride.

"Then you must be one of the best." He said.

"I've never woken up once!"

Once again Pinky's face turned a bright crimson as she curtsied and pattered out through the door.

David spent the morning flicking through the books he had been given, but now the spells in them seemed familiar and ridiculously easy. All he needed was a wand to try them out. He was itching to create more light inside the room so that he could brighten the place up a bit. It all seemed so gloomy and old-fashioned.

It wasn't too long after lunch when there was a commotion in the hall outside and David stood up in anticipation.

The door opened and Pinky crept in looking very happy but also behaving very prim and proper.

"Master apprentice is waiting here for you, sir."

A tall man wearing dark, well-cut wizarding robes entered briskly. He was good-looking, with short black wavy hair and a neatly trimmed goatee. He looked like he had not eaten very well for a long time and there was a slightly haunted look about his face.

He didn't acknowledge David at first, but looked around the room taking in every detail. He seemed to be trying to remember something, maybe checking to make sure that it was real.

He blinked a tear away and hung his head down on his chest, breathing deeply. David said nothing, but stood and watched this strange behaviour.

Then, with a dignified look he raised his head and looked at David with a genuine smile on his face.

"I believe you are the new apprentice. Allow me to introduce myself." He walked towards David and shook his hand vigorously.

He had a slight French accent, but spoke in a soft correct manner as if he had been brought up to be well-educated. There was definitely something aristocratic about the way that he held himself.

"My name is Rodolphus Guillaume Sebastienne de L'Estrange."

"But you can call me Rodolphus." He said.

"I have not been told your name, or your story. The Dark Lord commands that I do not ask you more than I need, but to instruct you in the art of defence and duelling."

"Duelling?" Asked David.

"Do you have swords here?"

Rodolphus laughed at this, but in a kindly way. But then he looked at David curiously.

"I should not ask you questions, but I'm intrigued to find that you did not know what I meant. You are a wizard are you not?"

David didn't know how to answer this, but yes he supposed he was a wizard now.

"No matter." Said Rodolphus.

"We will begin after dinner. That will give us some time to get to know each other a little better. Before that, I will take some time to look around the house. I've been away for some time." He added.

"Err, pleased to meet you anyway." Said David.

"I'll take a walk outside. I've not been into the garden yet."

David thought it might be time that he got a little fresh air for a change. He left Rodolphus, who walked over to the fireplace and put both outstretched hands onto the mantelpiece.

David went out of the front door and was pleasantly surprised to find that there was brilliant sunshine. It warmed his face and he held up a hand to shade his eyes. In the distance were thick woods with the gravel path from the house heading towards it.

The gardens were large and consisted of tidy lawns edged with low trimmed hedges. The divided grassed areas were very rectangular and had round flowerbeds dotted here and there.

David wondered how Pinky had the time to keep both the house and the gardens in such a tidy state. But the answer came almost instantly, as he saw a pair of house-elves coming around the corner of the house, to his right.

They were rushing to keep up with a lawn mower whose handle they were only just able to reach on their tiptoes. The mower must have been using some kind of magic to make it move on its own, because it was obvious that the elves would not be able to push it along, given their tiny statures.

Before long, one of the elves tripped up and fell flat on his face. The other was unable to hold back the mower on his own and he had to hold on grimly as he was dragged off the lawn and down the path towards the trees.

David grinned as the other elf got to his feet and chased after the runaway mower, which was eventually swallowed up in the darkness amongst the trees.

It was a pleasant walk around the house, in a wide circle and David wished that he had done it days earlier. He intended to spend more time outside in the future and enjoy what was left of the summer.

He also wondered if there was a broomstick he could borrow and have a tour of the house from the air.

When he returned to the house David was pleasantly surprised to find that dinner was ready and Rodolphus was sat at the table waiting for him.

"I hope that Scooter's cooking is as good as it was when I was last here." He said.

"Scooter?" Asked David.

"Don't you mean Pinky?"

"The elf chef is called Scooter." Said Rodolphus.

"Oh, I didn't know there were other house elves living here until an hour ago. I saw two others mowing the lawns. Although I did wonder why Pinky sometimes says 'we' instead of 'I'."

Rodolphus smiled.

"This is a very old chateau and has been in the Lestrange family for fourteen generations. The house-elves have been here for just as long. There used to be quite a big family living here all together in the past and they needed a small army of house-elves to take care of them."

"There are still four of them living down in the cellars. Pinky the housekeeper, Scooter the chef, Ralf and Igor the gardeners and odd job elves."

"There are also Jevon my personal valet and Maisie the handmaid of my wife Bellatrix. Those two are currently doing service in my brother-in-law's house in England. Their own house-elf was given clothes and thrown out because it was no longer suitable they tell me."

David was interested to find out this information, but also surprised that he hadn't seen any of the others until today.

"Pinky speaks very good English." He said.

"That would be because she IS English." Rodolphus explained.

"All the best house-elves come from England, or Transylvania. Between themselves they have their own secret language that they never use in front of wizards. My valet Jevon is French, as is Maisie."

Pinky arrived with the food on a trolley and laid it out on the table. She then dashed out to fetch the wine, returning with two dusty bottles of red.

Rodolphus' eyes lit up at the sight of the wine.

"Ahh my favourite, the Auberges Elf-made '72. I've looked forward to this for fifteen years!"

He opened the bottle with a flick of his wand and took a long deep sniff of the cork. With a look of joy he poured a small amount into his glass and swirled it around, holding it up to the light to view the colour.

He then inhaled the aroma of the wine in the glass and then took a mouthful. After moving it around his mouth to savour the taste, he swallowed and closed his eyes.

"Perfect." He said.

He poured a large glass each for himself and David.

"Why do you not live here any more?" Asked David.

Rodolphus gave a small shudder as he seemed to recall some dark memory.

"My wife and I are working for the Dark Lord and this means that we must spend much of our time away on business. It has been difficult for me to return here. My wife is very dedicated."

David got the impression that Rodolphus was not so happy with the situation and that maybe he was under the thumb of his wife.

They had an enjoyable dinner, with the food being better than anything David had eaten there before. Rodolphus was an engaging host and he kept David enthralled with tales of his family's deeds during the war with the giants and his own tasks on behalf of the Dark Lord.

He made it sound like he and the other death-eaters were fighting against the forces of an anti-wizard coalition. He heard about how ruling ministries of magic were being subjugated by muggle governments.

He also learned that there were secret groups also intent on keeping the wizards under the rule of muggles, such as the Order of the Phoenix.

He caught the odd name here and there. Dumbledore, Moody, Fudge, but they meant nothing to him really. He wasn't particularly interested in the reasons for fighting these people, but he enjoyed hearing about the magical duels and battles that they had.

He also was impressed that Rodolphus spoke so highly of the Dark Lord, who sounded like a great leader and garnered a lot of respect from his followers. He resolved to try to impress him and earn some respect for himself too.

There was a strange thing though. There seemed to be a discrepancy in time between some battles and more recent events, as if Rodolphus had not been active for some years. Maybe he was doing something that was secret and he couldn't tell David about it, or he was doing a job so mundane that it wasn't worth mentioning?

After the meal they sat by the fire and talked about the kind of things that Rodolphus was going to teach David.

"Before we start, there is one thing that I need to give you."

He walked over to a cabinet standing against the wall near the entrance door and opened one of the drawers. From within he took out a wooden box, about twelve inches long and two wide and high.

He brought it over to David and opened it up. Inside the red velvet-lined box was a wand.

"It was my father's. Eleven inches made of rosewood and with a unicorn's tail hair for the core. You can borrow it until you get a wand of your own. It should work well for you."

David breathed heavily and with a trembling hand he took the wand from out of the box. Immediately he felt a surge of energy flow through his hand and the wand vibrated momentarily.

"Give it a try." Said Rodolphus.

David licked his lips and thought of a spell to cast. There was only one, the first that he had performed successfully at Beauxbatons.

He pointed the wand at the two wine glasses on the table and with a swish and a flick he said the charm.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

The glasses floated up from the table and smoothly made their way to the hands of David and Rodolphus.

"To the Dark Lord!" Said Rodolphus and emptied the glass in one swig.

"The Dark Lord." David imitated.

A First Duel

After Pinky had cleared away the dinner plates Rodolphus led David to the centre of the room.

"Let me teach you the basics of duelling with wands."

He flicked his own wand around the room and the furniture lined itself up against the walls, leaving a large open space with a beautifully patterned rug on the floor in the centre.

Rodolphus indicated that David should stand at one end of the rug and he took up a position directly opposite to him.

"Duelling is an old sport and it is used for battles against wizard opponents. There are rules and traditions that are generally followed, but in a battle anything can happen so watch out for the unexpected at all times."

"In a formal situation, one-on-one, the wizards should bow to show each other respect." He bowed to David, not very low and always keeping his eyes on him.

"It is important to keep your eyes on your opponent, in case of sudden trickery. Immediately after the bow you must go into a suitable stance." He swished his arm above his head in an arc and half-crouched in a perfect balance.

"This is the basic neutral stance and it allows you to cast a spell and to move into a defensive position at the same time." Red sparks flew at David from the wand, but did no apparent harm. When David moved the hand that he had instinctively put up in front of his face, he saw that Rodolphus had shifted position to his right. He was now down on one knee with both hands holding his wand with both hands and it was pointed directly at David's heart.

"This is an offensive striking position and is used for greater accuracy over a longer distance." With the speed of a snake, Rodolphus then fired more sparks at David and rolled over sideways, stood up and moved a step backwards. Turning sideways he kept his wand low and his other arm high as if he were holding an invisible shield in front of him."

"Cast a spell at me." He ordered.

Without thinking about it too long David pointed his wand and cast a 'jellylegs' jinx.

There was a flash of white light as the jinx flew at Rodolphus but then bounced away from him, as if the invisible shield were really there.

"Classic defensive position." Said Rodolphus.

"I worked a non-verbal shield charm which is currently protecting me from minor jinxes and curses." He spun around again and stood once more in the original neutral stance.

"Wow." Said David. It had been very impressive.

Rodolphus then moved over to David and moved his body into the correct neutral stance.

"Now, begin again. Bow to you opponent and move into the stance."

David tried it but it felt a little awkward and he didn't feel comfortably balanced. Rodolphus made him repeat the movements again and again, encouraging David all the while and pointing out where he was going wrong.

After half an hour of practice at various neutral stances, Rodolphus seemed happy that David was getting the hang of it.

"There are many stances that wizards use. These four are the classic versions, but they can be adapted to suit the particular wizard or witch. I personally prefer to use these as they are tried and tested over many millennia, but with a few tweaks here and there to suit my height."

"My wife prefers more offensive positions and as she is shorter and more flexible she can use more advanced movements and techniques. She is a most formidable duellist."

David listened intently and was keen to pick up as many tips as possible.

"Now let us see how you cope with a 'Stinging Snitch'."

"What's that?" Asked David.

"It's a version of snitch used for training duellists. They are popular in some European wizarding schools. I know that Durmstrang use them, as they have a long tradition of producing great duellists."

"It is a typical snitch that moves incredibly fast and changing direction randomly. It can even disappear for several seconds at a time. The idea is that you try to hit it with a 'stinging' jinx. When you do this it rings like a bell so that you know there was a hit."

David liked the idea of this.

"But don't get too carried away with the idea that the snitch is an easy target, because it has the ability to store the jinx and then to release it back at you unexpectedly."

"If you are slow with your shield charm or defensive spell.." Rodolphus laughed.

"You will learn the meaning of 'stinging'".

Rodolphus turned and called to the empty room "Pinky, come here!"

With a loud 'crack', Pinky suddenly appeared in front of him. She curtsied and waited with head bowed down.

"Yes, Master?"

"Bring the stinging snitch from the old library."

Pinky scuttled out of the room and David heard a door creak open down the corridor. There was the distant sound of rummaging and heavy objects being moved about, then the door slamming shut and finally little footsteps hurrying back.

Pinky gave a small black box to Rodolphus and he opened it. Inside it there sat a silver object about the size of a golf ball.

"That will be all, Pinky." He said, and she disappeared with another 'crack'.

Rodolphus took out the ball and it began to flicker into life. Fine wing-like structures stretched out from where they had been curled up tightly around its sides and began to vibrate.

He then threw it up towards the ceiling, which was high above David's head. It didn't hit the ceiling, but swerved sideways and with a light buzzing sound it began to fly around the room.

Rodolphus moved to an armchair against the wall and sat down, ready to enjoy the spectacle.

David assumed a defensive stance and began to turn around keeping his eyes fixed on the snitch. It was difficult to keep his balance while turning, but he did his best.

"Now try to hit the snitch with a jinx." Said Rodolphus.

David realised that the defensive stance was of no use for trying to aim a spell at the moving ball, so he pressed forward and with a sweeping motion of his arm he cast a spell at it.

"Cuspo!"

A red streak of light left his wand and shattered a chandelier hanging a good two yards to the left of the snitch. David gave a gasp of horror and turned to look at Rodolphus.

He, however, seemed indifferent to the demise of what looked like a very valuable fixture.

"Don't worry, we can fix any damage after the training." He said.

David didn't think that this was a wise idea, but he turned anyway and searched around for the snitch. He found it lurking in the far corner of the room.

This time he waited for it to move nearer, to a point where he would concentrate with all his will. It took a minute or so, but eventually the weaving snitch moved in a path past a dark mark on the wall that David had marked as the target.

Timing his movement with the speed of the snitch, he cast the spell again.

'Ding!'

With a loud ring the snitch stopped dead in its tracks and then reversed its direction.

"Good shot!" Exclaimed Rodolphus and clapped appreciatively.

David grinned and chanced a look at Rodolphus who winked back at him.

"Remember your defence." He cautioned.

David immediately jumped into a defensive position, and none too soon because the snitch came to a sudden halt and red light fizzed from it towards David.

His shield charm held firm and the spell bounced harmlessly away from him and into the fireplace. Red flames jumped up in a tiny explosion, but luckily they escaped harmlessly up the chimney.

"Well done." Said Rodolphus again, and he stood up and waved his wand towards the snitch. The tiny ball swooped around in an arc and flew into the open box that he was still holding. With a snap he closed the lid.

"I think that will do for today. Too much learning in one go can be a bad thing. You've done a lot better than I expected. It looks like Beauxbatons has done a good job in teaching you your magic."

"Thanks." Said David.

"Who did you have for 'charms'? Monsieur Alphonse? I heard about him from my cousin Thierry."

David thought about the question the vision of a large cheery-faced wizard in dazzling white robes came into his mind. He had curly black hair and with a long black beard, neatly plaited.

"Yes, that's right, Alphonse Blanchard. We called him 'Blanco', because he always wears white robes."

"I'd almost forgotten the boasts of Thierry and his stories of Beauxbatons." Said Rodolphus.

"Myself, I attended Hogwarts. There is a certain cachee, something of a feather in one's cap for a French boy wizard to be educated there. It was there that I met my wife-to-be. Tell me, which house were you in?"

"Sournois." Said David automatically.

"Of course, as was Thierry." Said Rodolphus and smiled.

"I learned a great deal about that school, so perhaps you can tell me more about the palace and the teachers there?"

David looked into his own mind and tried to recall as much about Beauxbatons as he could find in the memories there.

"The Dark Lord will be pleased that your memories agree with what I have been told." Said Rodolphus.

He gazed at David approvingly and then turned and waved his wand around and around his head.

The furniture moved back into their original places in the room and the chandelier re-assembled itself and jumped up onto the ceiling.

"We will continue using the stinging snitch tomorrow. Good night and I will see you in the morning."

David went to bed and had long dreams about duelling with the snitch and with Rodolphus. It all seemed so easy and natural to him.

The next day saw Rodolphus putting David through several gruelling exercises that he told him were to build up his stamina and to quicken his reflexes.

All they seemed to do though was to make David feel exhausted and he sweated underneath the heavy robes.

More sessions with the snitch followed after this and Rodolphus continued to give instructions and pointers that helped David to anticipate the movements of the snitch.

He also learned several new defensive spells. One really useful charm that allowed him to roll sideways like a cartwheel, taking him several yards to the right or left.

Another spell duplicated his body so that side-by-side it was impossible for the opponent to know which one was the real target.

On the offensive side, he learned a multiplex jinx that cast a spell in seven different directions at the same time. This was handy when the target was small, swift and moving around like the snitch. In a battle situation, however, Rodolphus pointed out that you were more likely to hit one of your own side than the enemy.

For four days David carried on with the lessons, duelling against the stinging snitch and then Rodolphus himself. He was getting good, very good in fact.

Rodolphus was impressed by David's natural ability to learn from his mistakes and never to replicate them. He also noticed how David had a natural instinct for adapting the techniques he had learnt. He was young, quick and nimble. He was almost ready.

Rodolphus looked at David and wondered why the Dark Lord had picked out this boy for particular attention. Still, it was not his place to question any of the Dark Lord's orders and he wouldn't dare to disobey him.

In the previous year the Dark Lord had sprung him out of Azkaban the wizard prison, along with his wife and several of his fellow death-eaters. Then, when he had been captured at the Ministry of Magic weeks earlier, the Dark Lord had arranged for the ambush of the security aurors who were transporting him back to prison and he had managed to escape again.

His orders were to train the boy in the art of duelling and to ask no questions of his identity, or to tell any other soul about him. He was proud that the Dark Lord had singled him out for this important task and he would not betray his trust.

He gave a wry smile as he remembered the look on Bellatrix's face as the Dark Lord told him that he had a special task and that she would not be involved. Too many times in the past she had put the Dark Lord first and ignored his own needs.

"Your training from me is complete, I think." He told David.

"There is only need now for continued practice with the snitch and your morning exercises. I will inform the Dark Lord and he will return for you, for some other task I guess."

"I have enjoyed my time back here in the home of my ancestors, but the Dark Lord has need of me back in England. There is much still to do in our fight against the muggle oppression."

David thanked Rodolphus for all his help and hoped that he would see him again in the future, and maybe even fight alongside him in the war.

Rodolphus laughed and smiled at the audacity of the young wizard.

David decided to take a walk outside. Something he hadn't managed to do for a while. As he left the room, he looked back and saw Rodolphus pull up the sleeve on his right arm. He then touched it with the tip of his wand, which glowed slightly.

Thinking nothing more of it, he strolled out of the house and into the garden. Around the back of the house was a white table and chairs that overlooked the most stunning fountains and lawns.

In the blink of an eye Pinky appeared with a tray of juice and a plate of small white cakes. She blushed as David thanked her again and then she hurried off back into the house.

David sat back and thought again about the transformations that he had undergone in the past weeks. He took a cake and shoved it whole into his mouth. Very nice!

As he pondered his situation, he noticed a fat black bird hopping around at the side of him. It cocked its head on one side and looked hopefully up at him.

"Here you go." Said David and crumbled one of the cakes and tossed the crumbs towards it.

The bird pecked hungrily at the crumbs and when it seemed to have had enough, it hopped up onto the back of one of the empty chairs.

David looked at the bird and wondered why it wasn't flying away. This wasn't the first time he had fed a bird that afterwards seemed to follow him around.

He shoo-ed it off the chair and it flittered onto the one a little further away, but it only appeared to be annoyed rather than actually scared of him.

Feeling rather annoyed himself, he got up and taking a glass of juice he walked out towards one of the fountains.

He hadn't noticed before, but the two elves Ralf and Igor were trimming the edge of the lawn around a large tree further beyond.

They were having a difficult time of it, because the tree wasn't just standing there quietly like any other tree. This one was waving its branches about in a most alarming fashion and then bringing them crashing down at the elves.

The two tiny elves were dodging about and trying to ward off the heavy branches with their lawn clippers. The tree was winning this battle and one of the unlucky elves was throw twenty feet through the air by a particularly well-aimed blow.

David cried out in alarm, but he needn't have feared because the elf jumped up and waving his fist at the tree, he ran back to rescue his colleague from the whirlwind of flailing tree-limbs.

The two then made a hasty retreat back to their wheelbarrow and turned back towards the house. Immediately they saw him, they bowed down deeply and almost in union chimed.

"Good afternoon, Master."

David grinned and said.

"Hello Ralf. Hello Igor. Are you both okay? What on earth was that tree doing?"

The two elves looked at him in awe. It was obvious that they had never expected such a reply before from one of their Masters.

"Ralf and me is very well thank you." Said the dishevelled elf.

His potato sack tunic was covered in brown and green streaks and his body was covered in red weals from the attack of the tree.

"That is a very bad tree, Master. It is a whomping willow that was planted next to the road to keep out unexpected guests. We has to cut the grass around its base once a week in summer."

Pinky telled us that Master apprentice is very good to her." Said the other elf, presumably this one was Ralf, and he giggled nervously.

"That's right." Said David.

"She's a good friend of mine."

Both elves dropped their lawn clippers. Their eyes opened widely and their jaws dropped in amazement. They then put their heads together and spoke together in hurried whispers.

"What's so unusual about that?" Asked David.

The two elves looked up at him again, slightly nervous.

"Wizards is not friends with elves." Chirped Ralf.

"Elves does what Master wants and leaves it at that."

David was non-plussed by this remark.

"But that makes you sound like slaves." He said.

"We is not slaves." Said Igor.

"We is house-elves!" They exclaimed together.

"Okay, okay. Let's just leave it at that. It was nice meeting you both." David laughed.

The two elves picked up their clippers and turned to resume their work, but then Igor pointed behind David and asked.

"Is Master's familiar wanting something?"

David looked around but there was nothing to be seen up at the house.

"Whatever do you mean?" He asked.

"Master's familiar. His 'familiar'!" He pointed excitedly.

David looked all around but there was nothing there, except for the black bird was now standing on the stonework surrounding the fountain and looking at him expectantly.

David shook his head and walked back up towards the house.

"Elves." He thought.

"What strange creatures they are."

Behind him unseen, the black bird flew up high over his head and followed until David was back inside the house.

It then fluttered up to the eaves of the roof and waited patiently again.

Sounds Familiar

When David went back into the front room he found it empty. He wanted to call for Pinky in the way that Rodolphus did, but felt that it would be rather cheeky.

He decided to wait for her to return later with his dinner. He settled down in an armchair with one of his books and read again about the dark arts. Rodolphus hadn't mentioned any spells or jinxes that were not used because they were considered to be 'dark' or uncontrollable.

He got as far as reading about the four unforgivable curses when Pinky finally made her appearance. The aroma of his dinner was delicious and he was in two minds about whether to talk to her or just tuck into the meal.

"Pinky, one of the gardeners said something to me earlier and he looked pretty worked up about it, but I have no idea what he was talking about."

"Perhaps Pinky can helps Master?" She said.

"Well, he kept pointing at the house and saying there was something familiar about it." David tried to explain.

Pinky creased her forehead and twitched her nose.

"What did he says?" She asked.

"He said something like 'your familiar is wanting something', and he kept pointing at the house."

Pinky suddenly looked surprised, as if the penny had finally dropped.

"Was there anybody Master could see near the house?"

"No, nobody. I think Rodolphus had already left by then."

"Was there any animals that Master could see?"

"No, just an old bird near the fountain. It must have thought I was going to give it some cake crumbs."

Pinky gasped and blinked.

"Master apprentice has a familiar!"

"What? What is it with this 'familiar' thing? What do you mean?"

David was getting exasperated and even more confused.

Pinky looked at him earnestly and said.

"When a wizard or witch is getting their magical powers, they sometimes attracts a spirit to them which is called a 'familiar'. It is very rare, but very useful too."

"Is it dangerous?" Asked David?

"No, not at all dangerous." Said Pinky.

"The familiar can understand the wizard and will do anything that he is asking it. It can sometimes be very magical too."

David was completely thrown by this discovery. Of all the strange things that had happened to him recently, this seemed to be the oddest of all.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked.

"I think it was just an old bird, nothing special. It wasn't doing anything in particular."

"If Ralf and Igor says they could see it, then it must be true Master. You see, we elves sees the spirit, not the animal. So we knows that it is a real familiar."

She sounded excited now and very credible in David's opinion.

"We can go outside and take a look if Master would like." She said.

"If Master invites it into the house, then it can come inside and stay with him."

David was a bit dubious about that, but the thought of his own personal 'familiar' sounded quite interesting.

He left his dinner, for the time being, and they headed out of the door once again.

Out in the garden it was starting to get a little dark. There was a slight mist over the lawns and the sound of a pheasant crying somewhere in the woods.

Almost immediately, as he and Pinky stepped onto the paved area outside, a small dark shadow dropped from the roof and landed in front of them.

There, lit by the light streaming from one of the long windows, was the black bird. It chirruped and looked up at David.

Pinky clapped her hands and jumped up and down, hardly able to contain her excitement.

"It IS a familiar! Oh, Master! You is very lucky."

David wasn't sure what to do next? How can you make friends with a bird?

"Master must greet the familiar and invite it into his home." She said.

He looked at her and then putting all doubts to one side, with an embarrassed cough he said.

"Hello, bird. Err I mean 'familiar'. It's very nice to meet you. My name is David, please come inside."

The bird sprang straight through his legs and flew right inside the house and into the front room. David looked pleased with himself and he looked around at Pinky.

She, however, stared back at him in complete terror.

David's heart leapt.

"What is it? What have I done!" he cried.

"M-mmm Master said his own name!" Wailed Pinky.

"What?" Said David, his heart slowing back down from a humming-bird rate to that of someone who's just run a race.

"Blimey, Pinky! Can you stop trying to give me heart failure. I thought it was something to do with the familiar coming inside."

Pinky blanched and looked at him fearfully.

"The Dark Lord told Pinky that she must not ask Master any questions about who he is or where he come from."

"Don't worry, Pinky." He said.

"I think it's okay to tell you that. You're not a witch. I'm sorry if I upset you. I won't tell anyone that you know. In fact, I'm glad that you know. After all, you ARE my friend."

Pinky relaxed a little on hearing this, but David still felt guilty that he had forgotten to hold his tongue in all the excitement.

They hurried back inside and into the front room, where the bird was now flying around one of the chandeliers. As soon as it saw David, it banked down and landed on the back of the armchair nearest to the fire.

David went over to take a closer look at it. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary. It was just a common or garden rook or something.

"What form does Master's familiar take?" Asked Pinky, who must have guessed what David was thinking.

"It's a black bird." He said.

Pinky watched the familiar hopping around. She was fascinated by it, even more so than David seemed to be.

"It will be a 'raven'." She said. That is a common type of familiar for young wizards.

"Cool." Said David.

"All I need to do now is to work out what I can do with it."

"Do I have to feed it and look after it? I've never had a pet before."

Pinky gave her usual giggle and remarked.

"A familiar is not a pet, Master. It is a free spirit who will stay with you while it is in this world."

"It will look after itself, but I think it will eat if you feeds it."

David grinned and took another close look at it. It stood still and looked back at him nonchalantly.

"Pinky thinks that Master Rodolphus has a book on familiars in the library. She will get it for you, Master."

She toddled off and David sat back down in the chair, then remembered that his dinner was still on the table and it was getting cold.

He took off the cover and the air was filled with the smell of roast beef. Without further ado, he began to tuck in. Only occasionally did he take a look behind him to check if the bird was still there.

It was certainly going to take some getting used to, having your own personal shadow in the form of a small bird. What on earth was he going to use it for?

Pinky was gone for quite a while. By the time she had returned, David had finished his dinner and was thinking about going up to bed.

The book that she brought was small, slim and looked quite new. David had a quick flick through it, then put it in his pocket and announced to Pinky that he was tired and needed to sleep. He could read it in the morning, now that there were no more lessons.

He looked over at the bird and asked it.

"Are you staying here? I won't be sneaking off anywhere without you."

The bird cawed loudly and flew to the top of the curtains. David took that as a sign that it was happy to stay downstairs.

A Day in Paris

David came back downstairs the next day after spending over an hour luxuriating in the huge marble bath. Its gold taps and feet showed off the opulence of much of the house.

He had lain there reading through the book on familiars. It didn't really offer much information other than to indicate the forms of animals that they usually took on.

There was nothing to say where they came from, or what reason they had to make a connection to another magical being.

It did turn out, however, that they made very good guides for those who were lost or were trying to find a hidden room. They also were good for spying on people.

This was through possession of the corporeal body of the familiar, using the displaced soul of the wizard. An incantation and a strong will would allow the wizard to inhabit the body of the familiar for a short period. He could then fly, if it was a bird, close to the enemy and be completely ignored as he listened in.

The downside was that his body would be lying wherever he left it, with a vacant look and a dribbling mouth. There was also the chance that he could be captured or killed, as an inert wizard unable to use a wand would find defending himself a bit of a problem.

He was thinking about trying out the incantation when he walked into the front room to find a familiar tall figure waiting there silently.

"My Lord!" He said, and got down on one knee.

Voldemort leered over him and said.

"Get up, apprentice. We have an appointment with a tailor in Paris. It is time to purchase the things that you will need for your task."

He pulled out a letter from his inner pocket and opened up the parchment inside. There was a large letter 'H' on the envelope imprinted into a large red seal.

"You will be spending the next year as a student at Hogwarts. This is a list of the items required for sixth-year studies."

"Hogwarts?" Wondered David.

"Why should they let me study there? What is wrong with Beauxbatons?"

"Hogwarts is where I need you to be." He replied.

"I have arranged that you will be studying there as part of an inter-school student exchange."

David looked surprised, but the idea of going to a wizarding school in Britain sounded very appealing to him.

"We shall disguise ourselves and visit the places where we can buy your robes and potion-making equipment. I have already arranged for a wand-maker to create a new wand for you. Books will have to be bought here in England."

"Thank you." Said David and was really pleased about that.

Just then, Voldemort whirled around with his wand pointed directly at the black bird that was watching them from the top of the curtains.

"Does that bird belong to this house?" He asked, relaxing his arm.

"Erm, well actually.. It belongs to me, my lord." Said David sheepishly.

Voldemort looked at him quizzically.

"I didn't have you down as a birdwatcher. Where did you get it? Do you use it for mail? If so, with whom do you correspond?"

"Nobody, my lord. I didn't buy it, it sort of appeared just yesterday. Pinky said it is not a bird, it's a familiar."

Voldemort looked at him in amazement.

"You have a familiar?"

His eyes lit up with delight, as an intriguing thought entered his mind.

"It seems that fate has dealt you a lucky hand. A familiar is a rare gift to own. I see now that my choice in you was well made. I think that a wand that incorporates the feather of your familiar in it will be a very powerful weapon for you to use."

David grinned and looked up at the bird. He didn't notice the flicker of annoyance that passed over Voldemort's face as he observed it flying down and around David.

"Time for us to go." Said Voldemort.

He turned David to face him and tapped him on the top of his head with his wand, as he muttered a complex spell. David felt a strange shivering all over his body and a tingling in his face.

He walked over to the large mirror on the wall over the fireplace and looked into it. His face was that of another boy. He looked vaguely familiar, but David couldn't put his finger on where he had seen it before.

Voldemort then did the same to himself and David watched as the snake-like face melted and morphed into that of an old man with a long grey beard.

"Whoa, I just love magic!" Said David with glee.

Voldemort gave a weird coughing laugh and ordered David by his side. He grabbed his arm and waved his wand in front of them.

Again, David felt that dizzying crushing sensation of travelling very fast through non-air. This time he was determined to land on his feet, and he just about managed it though he staggered sideways.

They were standing at the end of what looked like a street from the olden days. It was cluttered and dusty and the buildings all seemed to lean out forwards at the top. There were dozens of people wandering up and down the street on either side, peering into shop windows or chatting merrily in the early sunshine.

There was a soft brush against David's ear as his familiar swooped out from behind him and settled on a wooden trough at the roadside.

Voldemort gestured for David to go into a gaily-dressed shop on the left and cast a dark look at the bird as they entered. The window was full of bottles of various sizes, colours and shapes, each with labels indicating the maker's name or the contents.

Inside the shop were shelves upon shelves of interesting objects. Cauldrons, stirrers, weighing scales and scoops. In short, everything for the budding potioneer.

Voldemort took a blue spotted handkerchief out of his pocket and held it up in front of his face. He then pretended to cough into it, as he spoke to the witch behind the counter in a whisper.

The witch threw up her hands and said.

"Ahh, oui monsieur! Ici, ici!"

She lifted a bronze-coloured cauldron from the shelf behind her and placed it on the counter. She then hurried into the back and David could hear her rummaging around noisily.

Voldemort turned his head and whispered in David's ear.

"Translator-chief. The handkerchief that translates what you say into another language. This is English-to-French. An ingenious invention by a couple of blood-traitors with a shop in Diagon Alley called 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes'. Their usefulness outweighs their blood status.. For the time being."

David was impressed and longed to have a go for himself, but decided not to ask.

After five minutes or so, the witch re-appeared with her arms full of assorted packages and bottles. She dumped them non-too-gently into the cauldron and then headed off into the shop and began accumulating more hardware.

When she was eventually satisfied that the cauldron had everything the old man had asked of her, she waved her wand at an old till standing on the counter. It rattled and dinged, as numbers jumped up and down in the little glass window on the top. It finally came to a stop and the drawer crashed open and a little loose change clattered onto the floor.

Voldemort handed her some coins and the witch counted them carefully, before throwing them into the drawer which slammed shut with a resounding 'burp'.

David grabbed the cauldron and was ushered out of the shop by Voldemort, who led him further down the street and into a busy clothes shop. The black bird fluttered happily after them, keeping a keen eye on David but not unduly excited. Inside the shop they browsed the racks and Voldemort chose a couple of sets of plain black robes in David's size.

"You will be placed into one of the houses at Hogwarts and a plain robe will not be out of place in any of them. I will provide you with money to buy any other smaller items that you require. There is a small town close to the Hogwarts castle called Hogsmeade."

Voldemort again paid for the items and they hurried outside. The sun was very bright now and the street had become hazy with the rising dust from a passing horse and cart.

"We do not need to linger here more than is necessary." Said Voldemort.

"Here are two galleons for you to spend on something for yourself. I shall wait here for you. Be no longer than twenty minutes."

Voldemort dropped two large gold coins into David's hand and then moved into the shade against a wall.

With a happy heart David ran along the street, pursued by the ever-present familiar. It gave him a sense of security to think that it was now there watching out for him, though he couldn't think what it might do if there was an emergency.

He checked out a few of the more interesting-looking shops, looking at wands and books and cages full of owls, but only went into two of them.

The first was a smelly shop full of animals and birds in pens and cages. He perused the shelves until he found a packet of pellets with a picture of some birds on it. Guessing that they were some kind of feed, he handed a galleon to the shopkeeper and received three coins of different sizes in return.

The last shop was full of an assortment of sweets, cakes and other sweetmeats. He gave the shopkeeper the remaining galleon and pointed at the assortment of chocolates and candies in front of him.

The shopkeeper took a large box and filled it with one or two of almost everything in the display. David left the shop with a huge grin on his face.

He found Voldemort still lurking in the shadows.

"Had enough fun?" Asked the old man.

"Fantastic." Said David.

"Good. Now let us return."

In another rush of air and space, they re-appeared in the front room of the house. Waiting there for them were two people. One was Rodolphus who bowed to Voldemort, even though he was still in the guise of an old man.

The other was a tiny wizened old man, who looked as if he had been recently beaten up. He was cowering and shivering.

David stared at the man, as Voldemort tapped him on the head again and he felt his face and body returning to its usual shape. When the quivering man saw the old man beside David transform himself back into Voldemort, he cried out aloud.

"Silence!" Ordered Voldemort and the man's eyes opened wide in fear.

David's familiar swept over the man and he raised an arm to protect himself. Voldemort laughed.

"This is the boy for whom you are required to make a wand." He said.

"I will leave the choice of wood to your expertise, but the core must be of a feather from that bird." He indicated the familiar.

"Do it now, Ollivander!"

Rodolphus threw a bag onto the floor at Ollivander's feet and it rattled as it landed. Ollivander picked up the bag and scuttled to the table, where he opened it to reveal a set of tools and several boxes of wooden sticks.

He beckoned David over without saying a word and took out a tape measure. The measure then leapt onto David and started to run up and down all over his body, stretching open and zipping shut.

Ollivander watched it nervously and then put it away, muttering to himself. He pulled out a wooden stick and gave it to David, who looked at it in confusion.

"Wave it boy, wave it." He mumbled.

David waved it around and Ollivander seemed satisfied. He then gave David several others of different lengths in turn and asked him to do the same.

Eventually, Ollivander sighed heavily and said.

"Ten inches, flexible, rosewood."

"Good." Said Voldemort.

"The feather will be sent to you shortly. But first.."

"Obliviate!"

Voldemort pointed his wand at Ollivander and it emitted a silver stream of light that hit him in the face. Ollivander slumped sideways.

"Take him back, Rodolphus." Ordered Voldemort.

Rodolphus took hold of Ollivander's arm and giving David a curt nod, the pair of them disappeared with a 'crack'.

Voldemort looked at David and said.

"Give me a tail feather from the bird."

David held out his hand towards the bird and without a sound, it hopped onto his palm. It felt really light.

"Can I have one of your feathers?" He asked it.

He glanced nervously at Voldemort, wondering what he would do if the bird refused. There was no need to worry though. The bird spread its tail wide and after a few tugs, it managed to pull out a handsome shiny black plume.

David took it and handed it to Voldemort, who took it and looked at it closely. As he held it up to the light, it began to fade and then disappeared altogether.

"Where did it go?" Asked David, in surprise.

"It is still here in my hand." Said Voldemort.

"Very curious. It is invisible."

Voldemort put the feather in a pocket and turned towards the door.

"Get the house-elf to arrange your things into a suitable travelling trunk and prepare yourself for your journey to Hogwarts next Sunday."

"I will return then, with your wand and further instructions."

"Goodbye, my lord." Called David, as Voldemort disappeared out of the room.

He was alone once again.

"Pinky!" He shouted.

"Bring us both some juice. I've got us some chocolates!"

Ready for Hogwarts

The days seemed to drag slowly for David, waiting hopefully for Sunday when he would finally get a wand of his own.

The thought of going to a new place to live and meeting new kids didn't bother him one bit. He was used to big homes filled with kids of all ages. It was just a case of settling in and avoiding the troublemakers. There were always plenty of those. This time, though, he had no reason to be scared. He could duel anyone, anytime.

He spent the days exercising and practicing his moves and stances. He wasn't getting so tired after all the efforts now. Pinky kept him in tip-top condition, with a healthy diet of freshly prepared food and fruit shakes. The elf-chef never failed to please David's tastebuds.

On Saturday afternoon, he was sat watching his familiar, as it preened itself in the warm light coming in through the window. The thought suddenly struck him that it didn't have a name.

Pinky was busy dusting around the top of the picture rail. She had a large pink feathery duster and was coughing squeakily as clouds of dust billowed around her.

She was also balanced on top a set of rickety ladders that swayed from side to side as she reached out with the duster. David's heart was in his mouth as he saw her almost topple completely over, but at the last second shifted her weight and righted the ladders.

"What do you think, Pinky?" He asked.

"Do you know any good names for a familiar?"

Pinky stopped her work and put the end of the duster in her mouth and sucked it, deep in thought.

"Hmm. Pinky does not know any names of familiars. Perhaps Master knows a good name for a black bird?" She suggested.

"Apart from Blackie or Sooty, I can't think of anything." He said blankly.

"Do you think it's a boy or a girl bird?" He asked.

She looked at him with a grin.

"Does Master care if it is a boy or girl? Does he think that a girl bird will not be as good as a boy bird?"

"Don't be silly, Pinky." He said.

"I think girls are every bit as good as boys. You're a girl aren't you? And you're okay."

Pinky giggled and fluffed her duster in front of her, pretending to use it as a fan.

"Pinky is certainly a girl, but Pinky is a girl ELF."

"Really?" Said David laughing.

"I would never have guessed."

She coughed and spluttered as she inhaled a cloud of dust shaken loose by her heaving chest.

David laughed heartily and managed to splutter.

"You're all dusty, hehe."

"Yes, dusty." Pinky agreed.

Then David had it, the name for his familiar.

"Of course! I'll call him Dusty." He said happily.

"Or HER." Pinky chimed in.

"Yeah, I think Dusty will do for either." Said David.

So, Dusty it was.

David tried to wind Pinky up by asking her to come and observe as he officially named the familiar.

He took the borrowed wand of Rodolphus and pretended to use it as a sword to 'knight' the familiar as it stood and looked at him in what passed for disbelief in a bird's face.

"I dub thee Sir Dusty." He said jokingly.

"From now on, you will answer to the name of Dusty."

Pinky gave him a look that plainly said 'I think you are crazy'. Dusty gave a solemn 'caw' in return.

"I think this calls for a celebration." Said David.

"Pinky agrees." She said with a sudden leap of excitement.

"It is Master's last night here and Pinky thinks that she will not see him again when he leaves tomorrow."

"Ohh." Said David.

"I never thought about that. We can still keep in touch can't we?

"Pinky would like that." She said, with a huge smile on her face.

"Tonight, I will ask chef to make food for a party. We can even open a bottle of elf champagne."

"Why don't you ask all the other house-elves to come too?" He asked.

"Then it really will be a party."

"Master wants to have a party with we elves?" She asked in amazement.

"Of course. You weren't thinking that I was going to have a party all on my own? Now that WOULD be crazy."

Pinky clapped her hands with glee.

"We can come to Master's party, but we must have it downstairs in the kitchens. It would be an insult to the family for a house-elf to have a party in the main house while the family is away?"

"That's a pity." Said David.

"'Cause that is usually the best time to have a party, hehe."

She 'tutted' at him and waved her duster as if she was a teacher scolding a naughty schoolboy.

"Master apprentice is a very naughty boy to joke with Pinky like that." She said, but grinned anyway and shot off to make preparations.

David pottered about in the front room until Pinky came to take him downstairs. She was wearing her usual sack-like shirt, but had pinned a huge sunflower to the front. It made her chin glow with a strange yellow tinge.

She put her arm through the crook of his and led him through the side door and to the end of a short corridor. Another door there opened onto the top of a flight of stairs. Dusty shadowed them along the way.

They descended together and at the bottom Pinky asked David to close his eyes. She then led him carefully onwards and through an opening into a bright room that smelled of newly baked cakes.

"Master can open his eyes now." She said.

David did so and was amazed to see all four elves standing side by side underneath a banner made out of a bed sheet. In large red letters the banner read 'Good Luck at Hogwarts'.

The elves were a motley crew, but David couldn't have been happier. They all stared at him expectantly.

"Thank you, Pinky. Thanks Igor, Ralf. Thank you so much Scooter." Said David, as he took in the whole scene and saw the massive piles of sandwiches, pies and cakes on the table.

"Music!" Squeaked Pinky and she went over to an old radio set on the mantelpiece and gave it a whack with her hand.

A jaunty little tune rattled out of the radio set and it filled the room with foot-tapping music.

David took hold of Pinky's hands and started to dance around the room with her. Ralf and Igor clapped and cheered them on, as Scooter picked up a huge green bottle and shook it until the cork popped out and flew across the room.

With a loud 'clang', it bounced off a frying pan and nearly decapitated Dusty who had settled on top of the radio.

Scooter filled five wineglasses and they all 'clinked' them together in a toast to David. After downing them in one go and re-filling them, the elves began to relax and enjoy themselves.

The other elves were all eager to talk to David and to hear about his training sessions with their Master. They were interested in Dusty and what David planned to do with it.

David was equally interested in talking to the elves and finding out about each of them and who their families were and what sorts of things they liked to do.

They talked and laughed together until late, enjoying the food and finishing the bottle of champagne. This in particular seemed to have a highly stimulating effect on the elves. Pinky was soon dancing upon the tabletop and kicking cakes here, there and everywhere.

David laughed until he cried and the evening ended up with the elves teaching David a little song that seemed to amuse them more than anything. It was in a language he had never heard before, but he guessed that it was Transylvanian rather than Elf.

When he got into his bed later on, he reflected that maybe being a house-elf wasn't such a bad thing after all.

David woke the next morning with a few butterflies in his stomach. He was going to Hogwarts. He usually wasn't too bothered about moving to a new home, he'd done it so many times before. But this was something different. This time he actually WANTED to go.

He had never really been to a wizarding school before, but the memories he had of Beauxbatons were so strong that he truly believed that he had spent five years there.

And yet at the same time he knew that he had never been there and he had spent those five years at other schools, non-magical schools where the lessons were dull and boring.

He lay there thinking about the situation and trying to resolve the conflict in his mind, but it was impossible. He would just have to put the real memories to one side and immerse himself fully in this new world of magic.

After all, there was nothing of any worth in his past life that he wanted to hang on to. He didn't have any real friends there. There were boys who he had liked and been sad to leave behind, but when this had happened several times it became less painful.

With a strangely heavy heart he got up and took a quick bath. Pinky had laid out his freshly laundered clothes on the bed and they were his usual jeans and sweatshirt, not the new wizard's robes.

He had been wearing robes ever since he arrived at the mansion. Pinky had told him that he needed to get used to wearing them, so he had spent all his time in them. He had almost forgotten what it was like to wear normal muggle clothes.

He looked at the travelling trunk that Pinky had provided for him. It had belonged to Rodolphus and was the same one that the young Lestrange had used as a student at Hogwarts. Inside it were David's robes, the potion-making equipment and the books taken from the table downstairs.

Everything he owned was packed away and there was very little of it. When he thought about it, he realised that in all the past years he hadn't actually acquired many possessions at all.

His old clothes were still at the home of the Pryce's. His bicycle, the few books he had kept, that were given to him when he was first learning to read.

Then for the first time in weeks he wondered what had happened when the Pryce's hadn't returned home from their holiday and what had the hospital done when they had found David's bed empty?

Did they think that David had run away again and was now lost somewhere in France? That thought amused him a little and he imagined the doctors searching high and low for him.

He went down and had a delicious breakfast, courtesy of Scooter. All his favourites were there, fat golden fried eggs and thick crispy bacon, along with a couple of juicy pork sausages.

He felt much better after that and as he was sipping the last of his glass of fruit juice, he heard a familiar 'crack' from just outside the room.

Voldemort entered and without a word of welcome he swept over to David and held out his hand. David took it and quickly kneeling he touched it with his forehead, then stood up.

Voldemort looked carefully into David's eyes and said.

"You are now ready to go to Hogwarts. You will be accepted as a visiting student for at least one year there, possibly two if it is needed."

He then paused for a second and David nodded.

"I want you to find out everything you can about the headmaster and other Professors at the school. I want to know what their personal feelings are towards muggles and muggle-rule. Do not ask them directly because this would arouse their suspicions. Remember, you will be amongst enemies and you can trust nobody, not even the other children with whom you will be living. Many of them have parents who are working towards our destruction."

David nodded again to show his understanding.

"You have a whole year to obtain the information, so do not rush into the task and ruin it before you have gained anything of value. Even the most trivial of remarks by one of them may provide me with something useful."

Voldemort then hardened his look and continued.

"There is also another student there who is of great interest to me and I wish you to find out all you can about him. His name is Harry Potter."

David raised his eyebrows. Had he heard that name before?

Voldemort continued.

"Find out about his likes and dislikes, who his friends are and what they also like to do. Do not speak to them directly unless it is unavoidable, but use their other friends and Gryffindor housemates to find out more."

"What is Gryffindor?" Asked David.

"It is one of the four school houses at Hogwarts. There are four." Replied Voldemort.

"You must be careful not to ask too many questions as people will already be suspicious of you, coming from the rival school of Beauxbatons."

"I understand." Said David.

"I will listen rather than ask."

"Good." Said Voldemort with a malicious smile.

"You have intelligence. I think that this task suits you very well."

"My contact at Beauxbatons arranged the student exchange months ago. Hogwarts have been told that your name is Davide Bertillon. That is the only name that you need to remember."

Voldemort reached into his robes and took out two packages. One was long and thin, the other a cube about six inches across each edge. He handed them both to David who took them with interest.

He opened the first package to find inside a brand new wand. It was a dark reddish-brown colour and tapered from the handle end, which was carved into the shape of a bird's head and beak. It shone even in the low light of the room.

David held it and flicked it towards the fireplace. The fire lit up immediately and roared with huge flames climbing the chimney. He turned to Voldemort and grinned.

"Your wand is powerful. Keep it safe and use it well." Said Voldemort.

David put the wand onto the table, meaning to open the second package.

"Never leave your wand where another can take it. Keep it with you at all times." Voldemort added and handed it back to David.

David tucked the wand into his jeans underneath his sweatshirt and Voldemort nodded approvingly.

"This is a crystal ball that has been modified by myself." Said Voldemort as David opened the wrapping on the second package.

"It is the method by which we will communicate throughout the year. Simply tap it with your wand and I will know that you wish to talk. It has been charmed to only react to your own wand."

David looked at the crystal orb and it twinkled merrily in the light from the flames of the fire. He held it up and the face of Lord Voldemort appeared within it, reflected upside-down from where he stood.

"Do not use it in front of any other person and do not contact me unless you have something of real importance to convey to me. Otherwise it can still be used to practice divination, if you study that subject. I will not need to contact you."

David put the packaging to one side, but as he did so he noticed that the orb had been cushioned inside the wrapping using a square of white cloth. Stitched on one corner of it were the initials "WWW".

It was the handkerchief that Voldemort had used to translate his speech into French when they had visited Paris. He pulled it out of the wrapping and held it up. Voldemort recognised it and noted the fact.

"Keep that, you may find it useful. It is unlikely that anyone in Hogwarts will want to talk to you in French. Insist on speaking English unless there is no alternative."

"Now, it is time for you to be on your way. You will be taking the school train to Hogwarts. Here is the ticket."

Voldemort reached into his robes again and pulled out the envelope from Hogwarts that David had seen before. He took out a ticket and handed it to David. It read 'LONDON to HOGWARTS, for ONE WAY travel.' And in large letters 'Platform 9 3/4'.

"I have arranged for a portkey, that is a way of travelling over long distances, to transport you directly to the station. The train leaves at 11:00am and it is already 10:30am in London."

"London?" Said David.

Voldemort pointed his wand and an empty soda can appeared on the small table near the door.

"When this glows you must grab hold of it and keep hold of your trunk at the same time."

Voldemort waved his wand again and David heard something bumping around upstairs above him. In a few seconds his trunk glided through the door, floating through the air and landed by the can.

Voldemort then held out, as if from nowhere a large bag of coins.

"Take this money and buy yourself the books and other things you will need for the coming year."

David took the heavy bag and put it into the trunk, along with the crystal ball. He looked at Voldemort and with an intense thrill of expectation he waited by the can.

It began to glow with an eerie green colour and as he raised his hand to take hold of it, he took one last look around the room. He just had time to notice Pinky peering at him from around the corner of the fireplace. She looked a little sad, but also terrified.

The last thing David saw, as he grabbed hold of the can was a flurry of wings and Dusty landing on his shoulder. Voldemort's face was inscrutable.

The Train Journey

David felt as if the world had dropped from under his feet. He was being pulled through space as if a rope were attached to his stomach. The feeling was not as oppressively crushing as being apparated alongside Voldemort, but it was still a confusion of colours and swirling wind that made his head spin.

He managed to land upright in a dark space. In front of him was an opening into the daylight. He dragged his trunk out into the light and Dusty cawed on his shoulder.

There was a sudden increase in the noise around him and he saw that he was on the platform of a train station. He had no idea which station it could be, but there were plenty of people further along from whom he could find out.

He found an empty trolley and lifted the trunk onto it. Up towards the main concourse he could see a station guard. He gave the trolley a huge shove and headed towards him. Dusty sat patiently on the handle as he pushed.

Before he had got within ten yards of the guard, he saw to his left a man and woman wearing wizard's robes. They were with a girl around fourteen years of age and she too had a large trunk on a trolley. He decided to follow them instead.

He watched as the three people chatted to each other and then came to a stop in front of a brick wall. Above their heads were two signs, one saying 'PLATFORM 9' and the other 'PLATFORM 10'.

David pulled out his ticket and took another quick look at it. 'Platform nine and three quarters?' He thought. 'Surely not.'

The three looked around to make sure that nobody was watching them. They didn't notice David crouched behind his trunk, or they had seen it and assumed it belonged to another wizard.

Suddenly they raced towards the brick wall and disappeared through it.

"Whoa!" David said out loud.

It was a real eye opener for him. They had run straight through the brick wall. Or was it really a wall? 'Maybe it's a trick wall, or just well-camouflaged?' He told himself.

"Ah well Dusty, what do you reckon?" He took a huge breath.

"Here goes!"

With a silent expletive he pushed the trolley at the wall and held his breath. It was as if someone had turned the channel on a television. The modern, clean and tidy railway station had been replaced by something that wouldn't look out of place in the Victorian era.

There was a huge red steam engine puffing away at the platform. It was noisy, as the platform was filled with a mass of people, baggage and assorted animals all talking at once.

The steam from the train filled the air and it was thick and smoky. David choked a little and tried to get his bearings. He could see a gaggle of railway guards running here and there, sorting out trunks and cases and getting them all on board the train.

One of them noticed David standing there holding his ticket and he came over. He was wearing a dark red waistcoat and black jacket. Black pinstriped trousers and peaked cap completed the uniform.

"Ticket for Hogwarts?" He shouted to David, above the din.

David handed over his ticket and the man took it and pointing his wand, he burned a hole into one corner. He gave back the smoking ticket to a bemused David.

"I'll take your trunk and put it in the van. You get yourself onboard." He said and indicated an open carriage door.

Glad to be getting off the platform, David waited for Dusty to hop onto his shoulder then climbed up the steps that led into the train. He moved along the corridor and found the first carriage to be empty, so he went in and settled down by the window.

Outside he could see wizards and witches of all ages hugging each other goodbye. There were tears and waving, and lots of happy smiling faces as friends were re-united with each other after the long summer break.

He wondered who they all were and where they lived. How could so many wizards live in the country and never been seen by ordinary people? Muggles.

The butterflies in his stomach started to jump around as the train blew a long blast on its whistle. A flood of people moved towards the train and David heard chattering and feet moving towards him outside in the corridor.

A small group of students came in and sat around him, all talking excitedly. They threw their bags up onto the luggage rack and sat down.

One of them went to the window and opened up the sliding section at the top. He tried to put his face to the opening so that he could shout his goodbyes, but he was too short to reach so he stood up on the seat and leaned towards it.

"Bye mum, see you soon!"

Outside, a woman waved back at him and shouted something unintelligible.

"Get off the seat, Widdershins." Said another boy.

"You're getting mud all over it."

"One more minute, Creavey." He said and tried to fend off the sitting boy who was yanking on his pullover to get him down.

David looked at the sitting boy and grinned. The boy grinned back and then let go of the pullover, causing the standing boy to fall forwards and be left hanging backwards at the window.

The woman outside held up her hands to her face in horror. Everyone in the carriage laughed at his predicament.

When he had let go of the window and managed to sit back down, he waved happily through the window.

There were five of them in the carriage altogether. The window-waving boy and the pullover-puller sat beside him. Nearest to the door across from David was another boy who looked like a slightly smaller version of the puller. At David's side sat a girl with mousey coloured hair and big blue eyes. She was cradling a small light-brown owl in her arms.

There was a sudden jolt and the train started to move slowly along. The platform slid past and David watch a myriad of faces and coloured robes pass by the window. Some faces were tearful, some were smiling, but all were waving madly and before too long they were swallowed up in a cloud of steam as the train passed into a tunnel.

There was a cheer all around the train as it fell into darkness and the candles in the carriages sparked into life, but it wasn't too long before they came back out into the daylight and everyone settled back into their seats.

David listened as the boys and girl caught up on each other's comings and goings through the summer holidays.

From what they said, it appeared that the two similar-looking boys were indeed brothers, while the other boy and girl were their friends from school. They were all younger than David, he guessed around fourteen or so years.

The older brother eventually realised that David was not part of their conversations, so he looked over at him and said.

"I haven't met you at school before, have I? What's your name?"

"It's David, David Bertillon, but my friends all call me Daffers. I'm an exchange student. I did my studies at Beauxbatons up until now."

The others looked at him, startled at this revelation.

"Wow!" Said the older brother.

"My name's Colin Creavey and this is my brother Dennis." He pointed his thumb to the smaller boy on his left.

"This is Jack Widdershins." He looked round at the boy near the window.

"And that's Alice Chattox." He nodded towards the girls at David's side.

"We're all in the fifth year this time round and we're all in Gryffindor."

He beamed with pride at this last piece of information.

"Cool." Said David.

"My house at Beauxbatons was called Sournois. I don't know if they'll put me into a house at Hogwarts though."

"So, what's it like at Hogwarts? I can't say that I've heard much at all about the place. I just know that it's got a good reputation for producing great wizards so I thought it would be good to learn some new stuff here."

"Ohh, it's the best school in the world." Said Colin proudly.

David grinned appreciatively.

Colin then went on to give David a potted history of Hogwarts. He told him about the castle, the surrounding hills and countryside. He spoke of each of the Professors and what studies they taught. The other three added their own thoughts and observations about the ways of the school and David learned more in a few short hours than he would ever have thought possible.

In return David talked about Beauxbatons and all that he could remember of the Professors and lessons there. The Hogwarts students were most impressed by the way that the Beauxbatons students were taught the utmost respect for their school and Professors. It was apparent that the Beauxbatons school prided itself on its history more than the actual quality of the education. There was a lot of emphasis on traditions and order.

David surprised himself with the amount of detail that he was able to recall, considering that in reality he'd never actually set foot in the place.

"Is that your familiar?" David asked Alice and pointed to the owl.

"What do you mean?" She replied.

"That owl, is it your familiar?"

Alice looked at him as if he wasn't making sense.

"Does that mean something in French?" She asked.

"No, I was asking about your owl." David repeated.

"This is Pudge, he's my post-owl. You know? Delivers my mail."

David didn't know, but he let out a noise to pretend that he understood.

"I like your raven." Said Alice.

"Does he take your mail? She asked.

"Yeah, sure." Said David, hoping that he sounded vaguely credible.

He looked up at Dusty who was sat on the luggage rack preening his feathers. Dusty looked back at him contemptuously.

When they had all tired of conversation, they sat back and relaxed. David stared out through the window, while Jack and Colin fell asleep. Dennis took a small chessboard out of his pocket and began to play against Alice.

In the reflection of the window David saw the miniature chess pieces moving on their own and engaging in tiny battles against each other. He was fascinated by them and eventually turned to study the game rather than sit and watch the endless countryside go past.

David only turned away after Alice had trounced Dennis' white army. She had taken all of his major pieces and then chased a shrieking queen around the board with her remaining knights. The game ended with a stomping of the cowering queen by one particularly brutal knight.

A loud noise from the carriage door brought David out of his reverie. There was a bushy-haired girl looking in and behind her stood tall gangly boy with flaming red hair. They both had an air of authority about them.

"Hello there." Said the girl.

"Just checking that everything's okay in here."

The boy behind her seemed eager to be gone.

"Come on, Hermione. The food trolley will be coming round again soon. I'm absolutely starving."

He peered around the girl, who was looking at Dusty with some interest.

"Hi there, Dennis. Where's Colin? Oh there he is. Look, he's sleeping like a baby and he's small enough to pass for one, hehe." He tried to push past, but the girl elbowed him in the stomach.

"Come on, Ron." She said and taking hold of his ear she twisted it and led him away up the corridor.

David looked over at Dennis who shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

"Prefects." He said.

"Ron Weasley and Hermione Grainger. They're friends of ours. We all learned to duel together in Dumbledore's army."

David did a quick double-take. He had been taken by surprise at hearing Dumbledore's name.

" It wasn't a real army." He assured him.

"We just got together to fight against Dolores Umbridge last year. She was a hag from the ministry who tried to take over the school. Everyone hated her and it was the D.A. that got rid of her. We were all trained by Harry Potter."

David's eyebrows rose higher and higher as he listened with incredulity.

"He's the guy that beat your Fleur Delacourt in the Tri-Wizards Championship."

"Ohh." Said David, unable to think of anything.

He didn't have much memory of what Dennis was talking about and Dennis took his lack of response to mean that David was embarrassed that Beauxbatons had been beaten by Hogwarts.

Dennis grinned and David just looked blankly back at him. He was thinking about the names Harry Potter and Dumbledore. He made a mental note to find out more about Dumbledore's army and its members.

He wanted to ask Dennis right then and there, but a slight doubt had crept into his mind and he thought better of it. 'Take things slowly' He thought to himself. There would be plenty of time to eke out the information for his Master.

Now that he had a source, he knew that it could be done.

The hours rolled by and the food trolley came and went. David bought himself a pumpkin pasty, something he'd never heard of before and it tasted delicious.

He chatted some more with Colin after he had woken up and learned that he had known Harry Potter for four years. He also found out that Harry played seeker on the Gryffindor quidditch team and that his best friend was Ron Weasley, who also played on the team as keeper.

Outside it had turned dark and the lamps inside the carriage had been lit. When the lamps flickered off and on, Colin told David that the train was approaching Hogsmeade station and that they all needed to put on their school robes.

David remembered that his own robes were still locked in his trunk, so he had to leave the others and make his way to the luggage car. He whistled to Dusty who skipped onto his shoulder and out he went.

He made his way along the corridors and through several doors, peeking in at the occupants. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. At the front end of the train was a large carriage filled with students who weren't making preparations for the train's arrival at its destination.

They were sitting at their ease, chatting nonchalantly. One blond-haired boy was even laid down in the lap of a girl who was stroking his head.

David looked through the carriage and realised that he must be heading the wrong way, as he could see the guard's van beyond.

He retraced his steps and going past his own carriage he eventually reached the luggage car which was crammed with trunks and cases. There was no chance of finding his own, so he decided to try a spell with his new wand.

"Accio robes!"

With a flourish of his wand he called out the spell and almost instantly there was the sound of rumbling and scraping, as his trunk forced itself open somewhere in the mass.

His robes danced over the piles of luggage and he put them straight on, since this was a quiet enough place to do it.

With a feeling of elation that his wand was working perfectly, he went back to the carriage. Everyone was ready to go.

"I can see the platform lights." Said Jack, who had his face pressed to the window and was looking ahead.

The train began to slow and as bright lamps outside began to fill the train with light, it eventually came to a stop. A loud whistle from the train told them that they had arrived at Hogsmeade.

There was a mad rush for the doors and David was caught in the crush, along with Dusty who was now perched on top of his head. His claws were tickling David's crown, but David didn't care.

Around him was almost pandemonium. The adults waiting at the station were shouting instructions and students were splitting up into groups of older and younger.

He saw a giant of a man waving his arms in the air and pointing to one side. Around him was a crowd of tiny boys and girls. He looked big enough to pick the whole lot up in one go and carry them off to the castle himself.

He accidentally bumped into a young woman who was getting onto the train and he turned and apologised to her.

"No problem." She said.

"Are you okay? You look lost."

"I'm an exchange student." Explained David.

"I don't know where I should go from here."

She looked at him and smiled.

"See that witch over there?" She asked and pointed to a slim grey-haired witch with a tartan cloak.

"Her name is Professor McGonagall. She can point you towards the carriages that take you up to the castle."

"Thanks." Said David

The woman turned and climbed into the train.

David passed through the throng and approached Professor McGonagall.

"Excuse me." He said.

"My name is David Bertillon. It's my first time here. Could you.."

"Ahh, our new exchange student. I was asked to look out for you. If you give me a few minutes, I'll just get the students on their way and we can follow in the last carriage."

She shouted more instructions to the people milling around her and eventually order was restored and everyone was put into a carriage, the platform was empty and just herself and David were left.

"Good, good. Let's get inside, it's starting to get a bit chilly now."

She chivvied David before her and they climbed into the carriage. He stopped just before he got in to look at the strange animals that were pulling it. They looked like some kind of starved horses, black and shining in the dark.

"Thestrals." Said Professor McGonagall from behind him.

As they travelled together, they chatted about the Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade. Dusty slept with his head under one wing, balanced on David's shoulder. David mentioned to Professor McGonagall that he needed to buy books from the shop in Hogsmeade.

Professor McGonagall told him what would happen when they arrived at school. The greeting of the new students, the sorting of them into their houses and then the welcoming feast.

David was looking forward to that. The train journey had made him very hungry and thirsty.

The carriage rocked to and fro, bumping along the stony path that weaved its way upwards between fields and trees and finally high rocks on either side. Then as they rounded one corner, David got his first glimpse of Hogwarts.

He saw a huge castle with many towers and spires looming up ahead. It was framed with rocky peaks and trees. Above it, dark clouds were billowing in the wind and the moon was shining brightly overhead.

David held his breath. What a place to live! And he could stay here for a whole year at least. The memory of children's homes and foster parents was lost in this new experience of somewhere that would be worth staying in.

Hogwarts!

Settling in at School

When the carriages stopped outside the front door of the castle, David climbed out and waited as Professor McGonagall directed the other students into the hallway. When they were all inside, he went in with her and the huge wooden door closed with a resounding 'boom'.

The students who were wearing overcoats removed them and took them into the cloakrooms at the side. Meanwhile, the rest of them shuffled into the great hall, along with David and Professor McGonagall.

As the students milled around, David saw a gangly long-haired man running around between them and poking at them with a metal rod shaped like a television aerial.

"What's he doing?" David asked Professor McGonagall.

"What? Oh, that's the caretaker Argus Filtch. He's running a secrecy sensor over everyone. Ministry orders are for every student to be checked for hidden dark artefacts. Though personally, I believe he's only interested in finding dungbombs or fanged frisbees."

When David entered the great hall for the first time, he was awestruck by the size of the room. Tables ran the full length of the hall and there were others on a raised dais at the far end. Sitting at that table were an assortment of older wizards and witches, obviously the teaching staff.

The high ceiling had been magically transformed to resemble the night sky, but without the accompanying wind and rain that might be happening outside. Tonight, it was a deep bluish black with some cloud cover and an eerie moon in one corner.

Professor McGonagall took David over to the dais and waved at a plump little witch who was watching the students settling down at one of the long tables.

"Professor Sprout." She called.

The witch saw her beckoning and getting up, she made her way around the edge of the table and over to David.

"This is David Bertillon, the exchange student. David, this is Professor Sprout. She is head of Hufflepuff house and during your stay you will have a room in the Hufflepuff dormitory."

"Ahh, so pleased to meet you, David." She said and held out a hand.

David shook it and was surprised to find that it was hard and horny, almost like a working man's.

"Pleased to meet you, Professor." He replied.

"I teach herbology to the sixth year students, so I'll be seeing a lot of you this year." She smiled and nodded at David.

"I look forward to it." He said and privately thought that he was going to make sure that he never did anything to warrant her slapping him hard across the head with those hands.

"If you sit over there next to Biggins." She pointed to a tall boy sat at the end of the table.

"That's the Hufflepuff house table and he is the house warlock, so he is in charge of the students, in my absence."

David nodded his understanding and thanked her and Professor McGonagall once more. He left them and walked over to Biggins and introduced himself. Dusty preferred to stretch his wings and he flew high around the room and settled somewhere hidden in a niche in the wall, but with a clear view of everyone below.

Biggins turned out to be friendlier than his outward appearance showed. Although he was tall and fairly stocky, his voice was rather high-pitched and he spoke in a very laid-back manner.

"Ah, yes. The French exchange student. Sprout did mention earlier." He drawled.

"If you catch me after the feast is over and the sorting and speeches are all finished, I'll take you up to the dormitory and show you to your room. You've got a single next to mine. As I'm warlock for Hufflepuff, I get a room to myself. Not a bad little perk if you ask me."

"Sounds pretty good to me." Said David and was pleased that he didn't have to share rooms with a complete stranger.

Too often in the past, he'd had to bunk up with three or four other boys in the children's homes. He remembered the noise and smells of the room and it wasn't very nice. Having to keep a watch on your own stuff too, because some of the boys made free with the property of others.

David sat down at the table and looked around at the crowd milling around the tables. Before too long, they had all found seats of their own and the hubbub died down.

There was suddenly an expectant silence, as the students all held their breath and stared up at the wizard at the centre of proceedings. Having observed the silence that had fallen, he stood up and smiled in welcome, his hands clasped together behind him.

He was tall and slender, with a long white beard and hair under a pointed hat of bright purple. His matching robes had tiny gold points of light all over them and they sparkled in the light of candles, lamps and the moon overhead.

"Welcome one and all to another year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry." He beamed and looked out at the sea of happy faces.

David listened intently, he wanted to catch every word of this address. He knew instinctively that this must be Dumbledore. The man seemed to exude a sense of hidden power, even as he stood there just talking.

"The first task at the beginning of every new year is the traditional sorting of new students into their houses and this year will provide no exception. If Professor Flitwick can bring in the sorting hat, then we can begin."

The little 'charms' Professor appeared from behind the table and sat the dusty old wizard's hat on a chair at the front of the dais. The hat coughed and cleared its invisible throat, then it began to speak in a croaky voice:

"Another year, another group of students to be sorted;

Divided, yet together will your enemies be thwarted.

Do not forget that strength is found in those who stick together;

And if you argue, hawk and fight, the war will last forever.

So heed my words and work as one, to fight a common foe;

I'll tell my tale and you will learn the thing you want to know.

The sorting hat is what I'm called, I came here long ago;

I greet the first-year students and I tell them where to go.

I sort them each into the houses formed by founders four;

In Hufflepuff, in Ravenclaw, Slytherin and Gryffindor.

Now come and place me on your head, I'll try my best to do;

What is the best to make a witch or wizard out of you.

Perhaps in Hufflepuff you'll find you value hard work best;

Or Ravenclaw whose students' marks are better than the rest.

In Gryffindor the brave at heart and daring are the kind;

While in the house of Slytherin, are those of cunning mind.

Whichever choice I make for you, your life will change forever;

Will shape the person you become, I really am that clever!"

Everyone laughed and then clapped out loud when they realised that the hat had finished it's little speech.

Professor McGonagall signalled for silence and having got it she read out the first name on a list that she was holding in front of her.

"Abercrombie, Fergus." She called and a small boy shambled nervously from the table of first-years below the dais.

He placed the hat on his head, but it was so big that it fell down to his shoulders. Everyone laughed again and even Dumbledore beamed widely.

The hall fell silent again as the hat prepared to make its decision.

"Hufflepuff!" It cried out and the table around David erupted in cheers and shouts of triumph at getting the first student.

The boy took off the hat and ran down to their table where he was instantly surrounded by Hufflepuffs. They shook his hand and patted his shoulders and then plonked him down on the bench between them.

The sorting continued in a similar fashion, until each of the students had been placed into one or other of the four houses. They seemed to have been divided fairly equally and David noticed that there was some kind of method in the madness of the whole process.

It did look as if the geeky-looking students went into Ravenclaw and the shifty, sharp-faced types went into Slytherin. The more confident-looking kids were assigned to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff took everyone else, 'the more normal types' thought David.

Meanwhile, Dumbledore had got to his feet again and was clapping vigorously. He waved his arms up and down before him, to silence the hall and then spoke to them.

"Now that the sorting has been completed to everyone's satisfaction, I hope, there are a few messages and notices that I would like to give you. But, first things first. After all the excitement of the sorting, let us refresh ourselves with the welcome feast. Tuck in, everyone!"

At that, the tables filled with a wondrous arrangement of food and drinks. There was roasted chicken and potatoes, steaming piles of carrots and peas, gigantic fluffy brown Yorkshire puddings and boats of thick gravy to pour over them.

There were pies, puddings, slices of beef and all the tastiest things that would satisfy the needs of a hungry diner. David tucked in without further ado. He chatted to the others around him and got a full run-down of Hufflepuff's more recent triumphs and disasters, including Cedric Diggory's death at the tri-wizards tournament.

This mention of the tragic death of a student brought back a memory that David had of Fleur Delacourt returning to Beauxbatons in a flood of tears. He was pondering this thought when there was a sudden commotion behind him and heading towards the Gryffindor table.

A boy around the same age as David was making his way along the benches and trying his best to be inconspicuous, but almost everyone had turned to watch him.

Biggins nudged David and nodded in the direction of the boy.

"Potter." He said.

"It's Harry Potter. How come he's so late?"

David perked up at the name and lifted himself up in his seat, staring hard at the boy and trying to get a good look at his face. The boy was soon lost in a sea of Gryffindors.

"Showing off, as usual." Biggins continued, oblivious to David's disappointment at missing out on catching a glimpse of the Potter boy.

David did notice that he could see a man moving towards the place where Potter had disappeared. Or was he floating? He was dressed in an old-style costume, like something from 'the three musketeers'.

"Who's that man over there?" He asked Biggins.

"Oh, that's Sir Nick. He's the ghost of Gryffindor."

"Ghost!"

"Of course he is. Each of the houses has their own ghost. It's just another of the traditions. Ours is 'the fat friar'." He pointed down the table, where David could see a fat greyish monk-like figure floating behind and chatting to some of the students.

'Weird." Thought David to himself.

David sat back and watched as his dinner plate suddenly disappeared. He looked in astonishment at the empty space where it had been, but then sighed with relief when an empty pudding dish appeared in its place.

The table was then re-filled with an assortment of cakes and puddings, jellies and custard. There was also fruit, cheese and crackers for those who hadn't much room left for dessert.

David filled up the corners with a few cracked walnuts and sat back, as full and happy as he could ever remember being.

The table soon cleared itself and there were only drinks left on it. Silence fell again as Dumbledore rose to his feet and addressed the school.

"The very best of evenings to you." He said and beamed at the students, with his arms now raised in welcome.

There was a common intake of breath from several students who had noticed something about Dumbledore.

"What is it?" Asked David.

"His hand looks all blackened and burned." Said Biggins in fear and disgust.

The Hufflepuffs whispered together, speculating as to what could have happened to make Dumbledore's hand so dead-looking.

David listened to Dumbledore's speech intently, paying attention to the news of a replacement potions Master and defence against the dark arts Master. He also caught the name Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and thought of the handkerchief now stuffed in his pocket.

Dumbledore then waffled on, to David's mind about being careful and looking out for strange things. This just made David think about taking extra care when trying to get some useful information.

It was soon over and David looked around to see where Dusty had got to. He eventually saw him stood at the edge of the niche, looking down at the boy David had seen earlier.

David had a sudden strong desire to be where Dusty was, to be able to see what Harry Potter was doing. At the same time, he was absent-mindedly playing with the wand hidden in the inner pocket of his robes.

He remembered the incantation that he had read in the book of familiars and was saying it over and over in his mind.

His eye met that of Dusty and the urge became so overwhelming that with no warning, he felt himself rise up and out of his body and he flew directly into the familiar. He must have cast the spell non-verbally.

He turned around and found that he was 'inside' the bird and looking out at the great hall. At the other side was his own body standing there waiting to leave, with a vacant expression on its face.

He looked down and saw Harry Potter talking to the red-haired boy from the train. Weasley, wasn't it? A giant of a man approached them from behind just as Potter said.

"How d'you know Voldemort doesn't need someone at Hogwarts?"

David felt himself fall forward and his wings opened wide. With a silent scream he flew back into his own body and looked back out in time to see Dusty coming straight at him.

"Whoa!" He cried out, as Dusty braked hard and landed gently on his shoulder.

Biggins turned and looked at Dusty.

"Nice bird." He said.

"I like ravens, there are supposed to be really intelligent."

"Yeah." Said David, trying to get his breath back.

He trudged after Biggins and out towards the doorway that led to the kitchens, even though he did not know it. Looking back, he could see Potter chatting with the giant man.

Biggins called for the new Hufflepuffs to line up behind him and to follow him to their common room. Everyone else made to make their way their way there in twos and threes.

The Hufflepuff common room was down a corridor, past a painting of some fruit. On the right-hand side was a dark recess filled with a stack of large barrels.

David and the first-years gathered around Biggins, who took out his wand and said.

"Listen carefully to what I do with my wand. This is how you get inside the Hufflepuff common room. Make sure you only tap this barrel in the middle of the second row, two up, otherwise you'll get drenched in smelly vinegar."

He tapped out a short tune on the lid of the barrel and it swung inwards.

"You have to remember the name 'Helga Hufflepuff' and tap out the syllables on the lid. She was the witch who founded Hogwarts, along with the other three wizards. This was her 'house' and we keep all the traditions that she began, in her honour."

David was enthralled by this unexpected magical secret and wondered how the other students got into their house common rooms.

They walked up a sloping earthy-floored corridor that opened into a round low-ceilinged room. The common room looked very warm and cosy, with a large fireplace that spread flickering light over many round wooden tables and chairs.

By the light of lamps around the walls of the room, he could see many yellow and black hangings. This appeared to be a common theme in the room. The furniture was mostly made of rich dark wood that shone as if highly polished, but there were fixtures and fittings in the house colours.

They matched perfectly and gave the room a feeling of warmth and friendliness.

There were also many plants decorating the room. Bright green ferns dangled from copper pots hanging from the ceiling and there were cacti and colourful flowering plants dotted here and there, on shelves fitted against the walls.

Dominating the room was a large portrait that hung over the fireplace. It showed a witch, Helga Hufflepuff, holding up a two-handled golden cup and seemingly toasting the students in the room. The badgers carved in the wooden fireplace were fashioned to look as if they were dancing around her feet. A badger was now the symbol of Hufflepuff house.

There were several round wooden doors that Biggins told them led into the dormitories and the correct ones were shown to the first-years.

Biggins led David through the door nearest to the fireplace and along another short corridor that had two doors, one on each side.

"This is my room." He said and opened the door on the right.

"That's yours. See you in the morning for breakfast." He added and yawning widely he went inside and shut the door behind him.

David opened his own door and entered the bedroom. It was furnished with a wooden four-poster bed that had a flowery patchwork quilt on top. This didn't really meet with David's approval, but it looked comfortable and warm.

His trunk was already at the foot of the bed. On one side of the room was a wardrobe and set of drawers, with a washbasin standing next to them. There was also an armchair and a writing desk with a lamp above it.

Dusty jumped onto the lamp and settled down for the night. David took a quick wash in the basin and then swapped his robes for his pyjamas, from the trunk. He put his wash kit at the side of the basin and made a promise to himself that he would clean his teeth and hang up his clothes in the morning.

He climbed into the welcoming bed and thought about the trip he had made into Dusty's body. He had actually flown as a bird!

'I wonder if Potter was talking about me?' He thought, but before too long he fell fast asleep.

First Day at Hogwarts

David woke in the morning to see the first light of dawn trying to break through the chinks in the curtains. He got up and drew them back. There were two windows, each as round as the doors in the common room and the curtains were again coloured with a black and yellow flowered pattern.

'It's like being a giant bee.' He thought to himself and this was reinforced when he looked out of the window and saw that it was at a level with a grassy lawn. There were flowers just outside the window, but most of the heads were turning to seed. It was after all, the beginning of autumn.

After washing himself and cleaning his teeth, he changed back into his wizard's robes and headed out to get some breakfast. The ever-present Dusty immediately jumped onto his shoulder.

"You don't have to follow me to breakfast." He told him.

"Why don't you take a look around outside and meet me later?" He asked.

He went back and opened a window and left it ajar for Dusty to come in and out. The black bird looked at him dubiously, but then flitted out through the window.

David strolled through the common room and it was already filled with students who were sorting through piles of book, or filing into the corridor that led to the great hall.

He met Biggins at the breakfast table and helped himself to scrambled eggs and sausages. They talked about the coming term and Biggins told David about the quidditch season that would begin before too long.

As breakfast finished, Professor Sprout approached David and greeted him enthusiastically.

"Well, well, another year of studies to look forward to. I hope you have a good time here at Hogwarts. I've brought your timetable for this year and it covers the subjects that you chose when you applied to come over and study here." She said and handed a piece of parchment to David.

"You've got me for herbology, of course and Professor Flitwick for Charms. You've already met Professor McGonagall who teaches transfiguration and then you've got Professor Hagrid for Care of Magical Creatures.

David looked at the parchment and it turned out to be his timetable for the coming year. He hadn't chosen those subjects himself, the real Davide must have done that.

The subjects sounded interesting enough and David mused that he must have had a lot in common with the French wizard. He then wondered where Davide was now. He hadn't really thought about it before, but how did Voldemort get those memories out of Davide and where was he now?

He shrugged and told himself that Davide must have been told that his exchange had been cancelled and right now he must be sat in Beauxbatons, without a clue about David taking his place over here. He tried to suppress an inner grin.

Professor Sprout made her way out of the hall and David read through the timetable. He had the whole day off today.

He remembered that he would need to buy his books for the subjects that had been chosen, so he headed over to the staff table and waited for Professor McGonagall to finish her breakfast.

When she arose from the table and made to leave, he went over and spoke to her.

"Excuse me, Professor. I wondered if it would be possible to go into Hogsmeade today and buy the books I need for my subjects?"

Professor McGonagall looked at him and clicked her fingers.

"I knew there was something I had to do this morning. Sorry David, I forgot to bring you a copy of the booklist from Flourish and Blotts. I'm afraid there are no bookshops in Hogsmeade that would have those books. They need to be ordered by owl service from London."

"If you follow me up to the staff room, I will give you the order form and booklist. You can use one of the school owls if you like, unless your raven is able to perform that service?"

David was a little disappointed, but the idea of using an owl to deliver an order form intrigued him. How would it know where to go? How would the books get back to Hogwarts?

"Thank you, Professor." He said and followed her up to the staff room.

He waited outside in the corridor as Professor McGonagall could be heard inside the staff room, rooting around in a drawer.

She emerged with a sheaf of parchments and handed them to David.

"I look forward to teaching you in the coming year. If you are as good at transfiguration as Fleur Delacourt, then you will find the lessons most agreeable."

She smiled and closed the door on him.

David leafed through the booklist as he walked back down to the Hufflepuff common room. As he wandered through the great hall he passed Colin Creavey.

"Hi there, David." Said Colin, in a flush of excitement.

"I just got my timetable. Have you got yours yet? I've got history of magic now and then potions straight after!"

"Sounds like a nightmare." Said David and grinned.

"Tell me about it. Talk about boring. History of magic first thing on a Monday!"

"Ah well, only one more year of it then you can drop the subject forever." David sympathised.

"Yeah, can't wait." Grinned Colin.

"How about we meet up sometime, if you don't mind being friends with a Gryffindor?"

"Sure thing." Said David.

Colin thought about it for a second, then said.

"How about the first Hogsmeade weekend? That won't be too long away. I can show you around the village and we can get a butterbeer in the Hog's Head inn."

"Cool." Agreed David.

"See you around then."

"Yeah. Bye." Said Colin and he hurried away, off to his first lesson.

David went back to his room to get Dusty and to fill in his order form for Flourish and Blotts. He then took the right amount of money out of the bag that Voldemort had given him.

He hunted around the room for something suitable to package his money and order form, but didn't have to look far. The writing table was actually stocked with simple quills and black ink. There was also an ample supply of writing parchment and envelopes.

He put the items into one of the envelopes and then stuck it shut using a small blob of sealing wax that he hit with a sealing jinx. The image in the wax was a raven inside an intricately worked circle.

Dusty was soon back in the room, having got himself a snack and something to drink from somewhere out in the Hogwarts gardens. David watched Dusty preening himself in the sunlight coming through the window and then had to suppress a laugh when a pair of legs walked into view just outside on the lawn.

The legs stopped outside the window, turned around and then disappeared back to where they had come from. An idea then hit him, that he could gather more information by using Dusty and getting into the other house common rooms via the windows.

Planning it all in his head, he took Dusty with him to try and find the owlery.

He walked to the entrance of the castle to see if he could find anyone who could direct him. The place was empty apart from a strange-looking little man who was hanging upside-down from one of the chandeliers.

As soon as he saw David, his eyes lit up mischievously and he dropped like a stone to the floor. David gasped, but just before he hit the stone, the little man spun around and floated three feet up in the air.

He was dressed very oddly, a very loud striped suit with an orange bow tie, topped with a bell-shaped hat like an upside-down umbel flower.

"Oh what is this that Peevsie sees today? A lost little student? Perhaps we can have some fun?" He giggled madly.

David looked at him in wonder. 'What on earth is this?' He asked himself.

"Erm, can you help me at all? Asked David, not too sure that this peculiar little person had all the bats in his belfry.

"Oh yes, oh yes. Peeves is always ready to help new students." He doffed his cap to David.

David was a bit dubious, especially as the man took a pencil out of his pocket and for no good reason shoved it up his own nose.

"Well, I'm looking for the owlery and wondered if.." He stopped short as the man took the pencil out and began tapping David on the shoulder with it.

"Urgh, do you mind not.."

The man starting barking like a dog, as loud as he could into David's ear. Dusty flew up into the air in a fright at this. The man giggled maniacally, having achieved a reaction and chased straight after him.

"Peeves!" A cry came from behind David and he looked round to see the caretaker Filtch running towards him as fast as he could, followed closely by a scrawny long-haired cat.

The little man whooped with delight and swerved away from Dusty, up the staircase and out of sight. He could be heard banging against the walls and cackling madly.

The gangly man approached David and put his hand on his shoulder, as he bent over gasping for breath. Wheezing heavily, it took a good minute for him to recover enough to be able to speak.

"What were you doing with that nuisance of a poltergeist, Peeves?" He finally managed to ask.

"Poltergeist? I just wanted to know the way to the owlery." David explained.

"Here, I don't know you, do I? Who are you" He asked and prodded David in the chest.

"David Bertillon. I'm here on exchange from Beauxbatons. Why do you want to know?"

"The French kid, eh? Well, I'm Argus Filch the school caretaker and it's my job to ask questions around here and to keep the place clean and tidy."

David flinched as the man put his face close up to his.

"If you stick to the rules then we'll get on very well. Just stay away from Peeves and let me know if you see him breaking anything or writing where he shouldn't.

David nodded.

"Quickest way to the owlery is out the front door, its round at the top of the west tower."

He grabbed hold of his coat-tails and began to shuffle up the stairs in pursuit of Peeves.

"Come on, my sweet. We'll get him yet." He called back to the cat, which was at that moment following Dusty as he floated down onto David's shoulder.

David shook his head and walked out into the sunshine.

He had to walk quite away along the path that skirted around the castle and for the first time he got a good look at the place.

It was huge and obviously very old, many hundreds of years by the look of it. The stone was weathered and beaten, but the blocks were big and it was obvious that it would last for as many years again.

There were very many windows along the walls and up in the towers and turrets that sprung up along the top of the roofs. There were many of these, as it appeared that the castle had been built-on and added to over the passage of time.

The topmost walls were crenelated and there were slits here and there for people to look out from behind them. The towers were like huge spires, some with pennants blowing in the gentle breeze that also freshened David's face.

It was an awe-inspiring sight and David made a vow to himself that he would fly over the place at some point and take a better look at it from above.

He found the west tower to be a lot shorter than many of the others and it was dotted with openings without any glass in them.

Inside, he wound his way up a stone staircase that ran around the inside of the tower wall. Through an opening at the top, there was the owlery itself. The place smelled musty and was whitewashed with bird droppings.

There were cavities in the wall and these were filled with owls of different colours and sizes. They were mostly asleep inside the dark hollows, but a few had opened their large eyes and were looking at David and Dusty.

One owl in particular caught his eye, as it was a dazzling white colour. He called up to it, but it turned its head and folded its wing over, ignoring him completely.

"Thanks a lot." He said.

"Is there anybody here who'll take a package to London?" He asked, thinking that what he was doing was completely insane.

Eventually, a large brown owl fluttered down onto a perch in front of him and lifted one its legs out for him. I didn't look too best pleased to have been aroused from its slumbers.

David took his letter and tied it to the leg, using the thin leather strap that hung from it. The bird looked at the letter and then raised and lowered its leg, as if trying to figure out the weight and balance of the load.

With a flap of its wings, it lifted off and flew out of an opening in the wall.

'There goes nothing.' Thought David.

'How on earth will it be able to carry all those books back to here?'

Thinking no more about it, he headed back to the main building. He had remembered that Alice Chattox had told him there was a library in the school where he could borrow the books that he needed.

Fortunately for David there was no need this time to ask directions from a psychotic poltergeist. He bumped into another student, a round-faced boy around the same age as himself. He was also heading for the library and was keen to show David the way.

David found that the boy was called Neville Longbottom and that he was in the same year, which meant that they would be sharing some lessons together. It turned out that the Hufflepuffs took herbology at the same time as the Gryffindors. This meant that there was at least one lesson where David could see Harry Potter at first hand and maybe even meet and speak to him.

Neville took David along the stairs and corridors that led to the library and David tried to remember the route they were taking. It wasn't easy as the library was up on the third floor and the staircases sometimes moved after they had got to the top of them.

Inside the library David found the woman in charge to be a little abrupt with him, but she did allow him to take out five books. Madame Pince gave him a quick tour of the sections where each type of book could be found. There was even a restricted section, where permission was required before the books could be referenced or borrowed.

It was a big place, with thousands of magical books available for view. David marvelled at the range of sizes, shapes and colours. There wasn't much else to do before lunch, so David sat and read a few of the more interesting-looking volumes.

He flicked through the pages and looked mostly at the pictures, rather than reading the text. He found one book called 'Elf Magic Explained' by Tobias Eckeridge, to be quite interesting. There were several moving pictures showing an elf levitating various objects and of him disapparating.

David looked at the little elf and smiled to himself. He was wondering what Pinky was up to right now. She was probably trying her best to keep Ralf and Igor under control.

The library had several students in there and all were being very quiet, either reading books or writing on rolls of parchment. Madame Pince kept a very strict policy of silence and nobody dared to upset her in her own domain.

When the students all got up and started to make their way out, David realised that it must be lunchtime. His stomach rumbled in anticipation of what was to come.

Dusty yawned on his shoulder and David wondered if the bird had fallen asleep while he had been reading. He jiggled his shoulder up and down and Dusty gave him an annoyed look.

Down in the great hall there was another delicious lunch on offer. David chose stew and dumplings with a heap of crunchy red cabbage on the side.

He was joined at the table by a pretty girl with long red hair which was plaited down her back. She introduced herself as Susan Bones and told him that Biggins had pointed David out to her and that they were in the same year. It turned out that she was also taking Care of Magical Creatures and they would be taking it together after lunch.

"Tell me about the place where you live in France." She said.

David told her about the chateau and the house elves that worked there. Susan was fascinated by it all and loved Dusty, who hopped from David's shoulder and pecked hungrily at a loaf of bread on the table.

Susan told David about her own upbringing by her aunt and assorted relatives. She was a half-blood, meaning that one of her parents was a muggle. She pointed out the other Hufflepuff students in their year at school.

There was Hannah Abbot, a tall blond-haired girl who was chatting to a boy in their year that Susan told him was called Ernie Macmillan. The other two were also chatting together and their names turned out to be Justin Finch-Fletchley and Zacharias Smith.

When he had finished eating, David rushed to his room to drop off the library books and then returned to the dining hall to meet up with Susan and Zacharias, who was the other Hufflepuff also taking Care of Magical Creatures. They went out together and made their way down to Hagrid's hut at the edge of the forest that ringed the school.

When they arrived, Hagrid was waiting outside for them and he had a huge smile on his face. The smile faltered somewhat when he saw that there were only a dozen students and his favourite three were nowhere to be seen.

"Welcome back, everybody." He said.

"I thought there would be more of yer. Is there anybody else still up at the school?"

"No, we're all here." Said Susan.

Hagrid looked disappointed and temporarily flustered. He twisted his hands stared around at the ground before composing himself.

"Right. This year we're going to deal with a load more magical creatures that you've probably never heard of, but the first months we're gonna be concentratin' on everybody's favourite. The dragon!"

David couldn't help himself and cried out.

"Wow! Dragons?"

Hagrid looked over at him and grinned widely.

"Tha's right. Dragons."

He suddenly realised that he didn't recognise David.

"Oo are you?" He asked.

"David." He replied.

"I'm an exchange student."

"Ahh." Exclaimed Hagrid.

"Professor Sprout did tell me, but I forgot. Nice to meet yer."

He held out a huge hand for David to shake and pumped it up and down, causing Dusty to flap in annoyance.

"Wha's that?" Asked Hagrid and pointed to Dusty.

"Oh, this is Dusty. He's a raven. He's my familiar." Answered David.

"A familiar!" Hagrid's eyes lit up with excitement.

"I've only ever seen two of them before. These are dead rare."

He held out his open palm and Dusty hopped onto it. Hagrid's black eyes twinkled as he lifted Dusty up to take a closer look.

" Amazin'. I never thought I'd get to see another one."

He held Dusty up for everyone else to see and said.

"Look everyone. This is a familiar. We cover these be-autiful creatures in year seven. They are really interestin' animals and have loads of magical properties."

David flushed with pride as Hagrid let Dusty hop back onto his shoulder.

"Well, I think I might just move the sessions on familiars to this year, after Christmas. It'll be really useful to study two of them together."

"Two of them? Have you got the other one here?" Asked Miriam Chadwick, a slender dark-haired Slytherin girl.

Hagrid chuckled in delight.

"Yeah, some of you might have seen him before. He usually stays inside the castle during the day, but comes out at night to hunt for doxies. He's a very handsome creature. Belongs to Professor Dumbledore he does. Well, not 'belong'. He lives with Dumbledore."

They all looked at each other, but nobody appeared to know what Hagrid was talking about.

"He's a phoenix, called Fawkes."

There was an appreciative murmur from everyone and Hagrid looked pleased with himself.

"Anyway, enough of familiars for the time being. There's plenty of time to find out about them after Christmas." He clapped his hands and winked at David.

"So, dragons eh? Who can tell me which breed of dragon can be found in this country?"

Hagrid looked round at the students and a few of them threw their hands into the air. A clever girl from Ravenclaw called Hettie Bracegirdle was given the nod by Hagrid and she recited.

" The common Welsh green is the only surviving British dragon. It is still to be found in the more remote corners of Wales and its diet is mostly sheep and wild deer."

"Corr-ect!" Exclaimed Hagrid.

"Take ten points for Ravenclaw."

David looked at her, impressed with this titbit of information. Hettie smiled knowingly and blinked at David, then looked down at a large furry book that she was holding. She stroked the book lovingly and it made a strange kind of 'purring' noise.

Hagrid took them over to a low building that had been erected not far from his hut. It had no walls, but was a series of upright poles with a mossy roof overhead. Inside it there was room for a large round table that could easily seat twenty or more students.

They all sat down and Hagrid took his place up by a chalkboard, where there was a series of drawings showing the life cycle of a dragon.

"You can all copy these pictures." He said.

"From egg to giant flying lizard. The whole life cycle."

He then seemed to drift off into some memory or other, smiling to himself as if remembering a happy time in the past. He was actually thinking about the time that he raised a young dragon from an egg, right here in his own hut. He'd had to give away the dragon when it got so big that he was in danger or being burned to a crisp in his own home.

On the table was an assortment of dragon-related objects. There were the remains of the egg from which his own dragon Norbert had hatched, along with four incredibly lifelike miniature dragons that moved and blew flames like the real thing.

Hagrid had managed to snaffle these models after they had been used in the tri-wizards trophy, in order for the contestants to choose a real-life one as part of one of the tasks.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable first lesson for David and he got to know Hannah and Susan a little better, as they were sitting at either side of him throughout. He didn't have the monster book of monsters as a reference to work from, so he had shared Hannah's copy with her and Susan. She had forgotten to bring hers.

The double lesson passed quickly and for homework Hagrid asked them each to write a half page of parchment on another breed of dragon of their own choice. David had a free period last thing, so he decided to go to the library and borrow another book.

Dinner that evening was a noisy affair, as everyone was keen to recall their adventures over the summer holidays and to talk about the first day's lessons.

David sat by Susan and they chatted about Hagrid, who had fascinated David. Not just because of his enormous size, but because he seemed so knowledgeable and keen on the subject he was teaching. David loved animals and had always wanted a pet, so he could easily relate to Hagrid who kept a whole menagerie of them in and around his hut.

That night as he lay in bed, he contemplated all the events of the day and once again wondered to himself how dramatically his life had changed. There was just the smallest nagging doubt, that once again he would be taken away from his new home just as he was getting settled and beginning to enjoy himself.

He put the thought away, turned over and fell asleep.

A First Look at Harry Potter

The next morning David woke up early and set about planning the day ahead. It was going to be a busy one. He had herbology first thing, followed by charms straight after that. After the morning break there was a double lesson of transfiguration, which spread over either side of the lunch break. A free period followed in the mid-afternoon, but then the day would end with another visit back to the charms classroom.

The most exciting part of this day was that the first lesson would be spent in the company of Harry Potter. He would get to see the object of Voldemort's interest and to find out one or two things that might prove of interest to the Dark Lord.

He washed and dressed, then collected his school things ready for the lessons ahead. He put the library books, quills, ink and parchment into a shoulder bag and went out to breakfast.

Dusty yawned and gave David a look through one half-open eye, but didn't bother to follow him this time. David sensed that Dusty had been watching him and also understood that there was no need for the familiar to follow him to every lesson that he took. He was safe enough here in Hogwarts.

David greeted the Hufflepuffs whose names he could remember and nodded to acknowledge some of the others. He also saw Jack and Alice coming into the dining hall from the other side. They waved over at him and he returned the greeting with a smile.

He couldn't help smiling nowadays. Everyone he had met appeared to really like him and they were all so friendly. He supposed that they were just making more of an effort with him because he was new to the place.

Breakfast was as good as the previous day and David helped himself to second helpings of sausages and bacon.

Susan Bones came over and tapped him on the shoulder, just as he had stuffed the last sausage into his mouth all in one go. David spluttered and tried to say 'morning'.

"Hi, David. How did you enjoy your first day yesterday?"

He nodded and shrugged his shoulders apologetically and tried to swallow the sausage bit by bit. Susan could see him struggling, so she sat down and waited for him to get his breath back.

When his face had stopped chewing and swallowing she handed him a serviette and said.

"You've got egg on your chin."

David tried to look down at his chin and rubbed vigorously with the tissue. Susan laughed and said.

"Only joking. Are you ready for herbology? We can go together if you like."

"Yeah that'll be cool. What's Professor Sprout like?"

"Oh, she's nice and she knows everything about magical plants and fungi."

"Good job." Said David.

"Otherwise this is going to be a really short lesson."

They both laughed and Susan led him out of the hall.

As they walked together and chatted about their Care of Magical Creatures homework, Susan pointed out the greenhouses that they would be working in. They still had ten minutes before the lesson began, so she took him into greenhouse one which held the owl-level plants. These were less dangerous than some of those grown in greenhouse two, but not always.

Susan told David about the mandrakes that were grown from seed in greenhouse one and then were transferred into larger pots when the roots had reached baby-sized. These plants were then moved into greenhouse two where security was a lot tighter.

Indeed, when Professor Sprout arrived at greenhouse two she was carrying a huge set of keys that opened the locks on the main door and the restricted areas inside.

"Sorry I'm late." She wheezed.

"Had to rush round to Hagrid's to get the spare set of keys. Mine are currently lodged inside a Martian mantrap plant on my windowsill."

The students all giggled.

"They are excellent plants for keeping valuables safe in, but a bugger when they refuse to open and let you retrieve them."

The keys jangled in her hand as she located the large brass one that opened the front door. Inside, the air smelled musty and very warm. It was also very humid and there was a low keening noise coming from somewhere at the back.

It was a large greenhouse, comprised of four long glass structures with wooden benches running along their central area. The four structures were side by side and joined by doorways that led from one into the other. You passed from one area into the next through doors that each had a padlock and needed to be opened by Professor Sprout.

The arrangement was such that there were footpaths edged with lawn running down the sides, with wooden tables and seating here and there. From these, people could sit and view the plants inside the greenhouses.

The students gathered around the table in the first greenhouse and waited for Professor sprout to return from unlocking the other doors. There were eighteen people taking advanced herbology and the majority were wearing Gryffindor jumpers under their robes.

David looked around the table and spotted Harry Potter across from him. He was chatting with the girl and red-haired boy that David had seen on the train. David could see now that all three had badges shining on their robes.

"What are those badges?" He asked Susan and nodded towards the three friends.

"The ones with a big 'P' on them are prefect's badges and Harry Potter has the lion badge to show that he is captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team." She whispered.

He looked back over at them, but the three didn't notice that they were being observed.

David wondered once again what is was about the Potter boy that had caused Voldemort to go to all this trouble. He didn't look special in any way.

In his daydreaming, he forgot that he was still staring over at Harry. He came to his senses to find Harry looking directly at him. It took a second for him to realise what he was doing and before he had a chance to blush and look away, Harry grinned at him and then turned to talk to Ron Weasley.

"I suppose you know all about Harry Potter, even in France?" Susan whispered again.

"No." Said David.

"What's all the fuss about him?"

Susan looked shocked.

"You don't know about Harry Potter and you-know-who?"

David looked blankly at her and Susan stared back in disbelief.

"He's.." She began, but was interrupted by the entrance of Professor Sprout.

The Professor was carrying a large terracotta plant pot that held a three foot tall green plant that was swaying as she trundled along the walkway. She was holding the plant at arm's length and wearing thick dragon-hide gloves.

As she plonked the plant onto the table there was a slight rattling sound. Professor Sprout dodged a whipping tendril as the plant made to grab her face and she turned to address the class.

"Venomous tentacula." She said.

"A very dangerous plant and one to watch out for when out climbing in the hills. They like a sunny position and can survive in dry and arid conditions. They are found world-wide, their seeds being spread when the seed pods explode."

"It used to be thought that the seeds were spread by birds who ate the seed pods, but this is patently ridiculous. Any bird that lands on the plant will be grabbed by tendrils and then poisoned by venomous thorns." She continued.

"Any bird that managed to swallow one of the seed pods would come to a very nasty explosive end." She finished by tapping a brown seed pod which 'banged' and threw out small torpedo-shaped shaped seeds in all directions.

To the students' surprise, the seeds began to roll end-over-end. Presumably trying to find a nice place to plant themselves.

"Take a plant pot, dragon dung mixed with grit and then pop one seed in at a depth of about one inch." Called Professor Sprout above the din of people laughing and trying to catch the seeds.

David looked around the floor for the seed that had bounced off the tip of his nose. He found it and picked it up. The seed was definitely trying to move on its own, so he grasped it between his forefinger and thumb and using his right hand he filled a small pot with smelly dung and thrust the seed into it.

The seed instantly began to bury itself deeper into the dung, using a wriggling action.

'Weird.' Thought David.

"What's the point of these plants?" David asked Professor Sprout.

She gave him an incredulous look and replied.

"The venomous tentacula has many medicinal uses. Its venom is an important ingredient in the wolfsbane potion, used to arrest the development of a werewolf into a full-blown monster."

"Take down these notes." She said to the whole class and they all rummaged around in their bags to retrieve quills and parchment.

Professor Sprout then treated them to a twenty-minute presentation on the virtues and uses of the venomous tentacula.

"You were right about her knowing everything about plants." Whispered David to Susan.

"She must be completely obsessed."

"Not quite as obsessed as Neville Longbottom." She replied and nodded over at Neville, who was holding up a magnifying glass to the plant and looking at it in great detail."

David watched Neville and was filled with admiration at the natural ability that he must have possessed, for dealing with such a dangerous plant.

The rest of the lesson passed very pleasantly, with David and Susan sharing her copy of the reference book. They noted down all the extra information that Professor Sprout gave them and they watched as Neville was given the task of re-potting the plant into a bigger container.

David took an occasional glance over at Harry Potter to see what he was up to, but there was no chance of overhearing what he and his friends were chatting and laughing about. Nobody else seemed to take any interest in David and only Susan could have noticed him, if she had been paying more attention.

Straight after herbology, David and Susan made their way up to the charms corridor and waited outside the classroom for Professor Flitwick to arrive. Most of the students who had been in herbology were also there, but a few had obviously chosen not to carry on to NEWT level and they had disappeared elsewhere. A couple of other students had replaced them, particularly a couple of giggling girls who were talking about a 'dream diary' or something. David asked Susan what one of those was.

"It's just a record you keep off all the dreams that you have every night. It's used for making predictions about the future. We used them in divination classes." She answered.

"Oh, I never studied that at Beauxbatons." Said David, running through a few of the memories that he could access.

Before too long, Professor Flitwick could be seen hurrying up the corridor. His robe tails dragged along the floor behind him and David gave a secret smile to himself.

A quick flick of the wand by the little charms Master made the door fly open and as he moved inside, his swished this way and that. The candles all lit up in their holders and the tables squashed themselves together against the walls at the side of the classroom.

"We'll be performing practical spells today." He squeaked.

"Get together into pairs and we will have a go at trying out the 'persuasion' charm. Can anyone tell me the incantation that we need to use to perform this spell?"

Immediately, the brown-haired girl that David had met on the train and who was a friend of Harry Potter threw her hand up into the air.

"Yes, miss Grainger?" Asked the Professor.

"Obedius, sir." She replied.

"Correct. Five points for Gryffindor." He shouted.

"This spell is a quick way to try to persuade a person do something that you want. It does not force them to do it, as does the 'imperius' curse, but makes them more susceptible to agreeing to do it."

"The imperius curse is of course forbidden by law, but the persuasion charm can be used by anyone. So, what I want you to do is to follow the wand movement that I am doing now." He moved his wand around in a complicated little figure of eight.

"Then speak the charm and imagine the other person doing something unusual. With any luck we will see someone hopping around like a frog, or pretending to eat an invisible apple. Good luck!"

They broke up into pairs and David naturally went with Susan and they found an empty space in the room and began to practice.

There was a lot of giggling and laughter as the students each thought of something funny that they wanted their partner to do. David wanted to make Susan cluck like a chicken and unbeknownst to him, she wanted to make him get down on one knee and sing an aria.

They each took it in turn to try to persuade the other, but nobody in the room was having much luck. Professor Flitwick went around amongst them and showed them the correct way to move their wand.

Eventually, after twenty minutes of hard toil, everyone turned around at the sound of someone barking loudly. It was Hannah Abbott and her partner Hermione Grainger was smiling widely. There was uproar as Hermione asked Hannah if she was okay and what it felt like, only for Hannah to reply with dog-like barks and yelps.

It didn't look like Hannah even knew that she was acting so peculiarly. The puzzled look on her face as she tried to talk to other people was causing gales of laughter.

Professor Flitwick chuckled and came to her assistance.

"Very good, miss Grainger. Now stand still, Miss Abbott and I'll put you right."

Hannah gazed at him, as if it were he who had something wrong with him.

"Finite incantatem!" He cried and her voice changed in an instant.

"Woof, woof, what's wrong. I'm speaking perfectly good English."

There was more laughter and Hermione explained to her that she had been barking and not talking normally.

It was a fun note on which to end the lesson and Professor Flitwick told them to practice the spell ready for the next lesson last thing that afternoon. David had enjoyed himself so much that he had totally forgotten that Harry Potter was also in the class and that he hadn't made any attempt to listen in on him and his friends.

'Ah well, we've got double transfiguration after the break.' He thought to himself. 'I'll see if I can sit nearer to him.'

Susan suggested that they go to the great hall to get glasses of pumpkin juice and a few cakes and biscuits. David followed her and soon found himself chatting to Colin Creavey, who had just come from a double lesson of divination with Firenze the centaur.

"We were outside this morning lying on our backs and looking at the clouds, trying to find shapes and creatures that might mean something or other." He told David.

"What are centaurs like?" Asked David.

"They are really amazing." Replied Colin.

"He looks just like a man, but with a bigger head and shoulders than normal. His horse body is huge, like a carthorse. He has been banished from the herd that lives out in the forest, so he has a room or stable or something down by the south tower."

They chatted happily through the break period and David told Colin that he'd see him again soon.

Susan grabbed David in time for them to make their way along to the divination classroom. Professor McGonagall was already waiting there for them. She was sat at her table at the front of the classroom, shuffling through a pile of parchments.

She saw the one that she wanted and pulled it out, then waved her wand at the blank chalkboard which immediately filled with text and a drawing of bubbles containing words and joined by arrows. It was something complicated.

"Sit down everyone and be quiet. Welcome back to transfiguration. This year I will be introducing you all to NEWT-level transfiguration spells and methods. We will be integrating charms and potions that you learned during your OWLS, so I hope that you were all paying attention in those subjects too."

The students all looked around at each other and understood straight away that this year was going to be a difficult one.

David had managed to manoeuvre Susan to a table directly behind Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. An ideal position from which to overhear anything that might be said.

Pleased with this little piece of luck, he took out his parchment, quill and ink and began to copy down the information that was written on the board. At the same time, Professor McGonagall outlined the forthcoming term's objectives.

It turned out that the figures on the board were the subjects that would be taught and how they linked together to provide an overall framework for understanding how advanced transfiguration is achieved.

David had thought that they would be simply learning more complicated spells that would allow them to transfigure bigger and bigger animals, but it turned out that transfiguration was a lot more complex than that.

"We will also be learning how to transfigure using non-verbal spells." She carried on.

"So there will be less wand-waving and shouting going on and there will be a lot more concentration and application of spellwork."

There were groans all around and so it was that the lesson began.

David listened carefully as Professor McGonagall talked, but he also tried his hardest to catch any conversation between Harry Potter and his friends.

He didn't get much joy that lesson, but he crossed his fingers and hoped that there might be something during the second lesson after lunch.

However, his luck wasn't in that day. After an excellent lunch sat at the side of Susan, he had sat through the next transfiguration lesson and the following charms lesson and heard nothing from the three Gryffindors at all.

He went back to his room later that day to check if Dusty was alright and was cheered up by the greeting that he received. Dusty sped over to him as soon as he opened the door and started to peck happily at his ear.

He tickled Dusty under the beak and told him all about the day he had just had. He didn't know why he was talking to the familiar in this way, but somehow thought that he might understand.

He suddenly noticed that there were a number of packages on his desk. They must have been delivered while he was in class earlier. He went over and opened them up. It was the book order from Flourish and Blotts.

He lined the books up on the desk and threw the wrapping parchment into the waste paper bin. There was a small crisis when his new monster book of monsters woke up and made a bid for freedom, forcing David to stamp on top of it and tie it shut with a cord from the curtains. He then took Dusty with him into the Hufflepuff common room and sat down in one of the flowery armchairs near a window.

Once again, he hadn't been there too long before Susan Bones had found him and joined him in enjoying the view out into the garden. They were fast becoming friends together.

Susan told him that she was finding it hard to concentrate in class because of what had happened over the summer.

"Why what happened?" David asked her.

She gave him a shocked look and then seemed to understand that he probably would not have heard about it, with him living in France of course.

"My aunt Amelia." She began, but stuttered and became upset.

"I'm sorry, Susan. I didn't mean to upset you." He said with a note of concern in his voice.

"She was killed by you-know-who." She managed to say and wiped away the tears forming in her eyes.

David looked at her blankly.

"You-know-who?"

"You don't know who he is?" Susan looked at him in disbelief.

"You know. Haven't you heard of him in France?"

David felt awkward and a little unnerved. Was this something that he really should know?

Susan looked deep into his eyes and whispered.

"He-who-must-not-be-named?" She looked at him in despair, then gulped and then in a hushed whisper said.

"Lord Voldemort."

The Other Side of the Story

David was stunned. It was obvious to Susan that David did not know about Voldemort. He sat there looking at Susan, as if he had been struck by lightning. He blinked and tried to take in what she had said.

The Dark Lord was his Master and his friend. Why would she say such a thing about him? He didn't believe that Voldemort would have killed someone. She must have been mistaken.

"How do you know that he killed your aunt?" He finally asked.

"We don't know if it was actually him who did it." She said.

"But it's obvious isn't it?"

David felt an inner anger burning inside him. She was accusing his Master of killing someone without any proof at all.

"You, you don't know about you-know-who do you? She asked nervously.

"Why, what can you tell me about him?" He replied.

At that moment Hannah Abbot wandered over with Zacharias Smith and joined in the conversation.

"David hasn't heard of you-know-who." Susan told the others.

"What! You've got to be joking." Said Hannah.

"He's the most powerful dark wizard in the world." Said Zacharias.

"He's the one who is trying to take over the ministry of magic and he has an army of death-eaters who are causing trouble all over the place." Said Hannah.

David listened as they told him everything they knew about Voldemort and the antics of the death-eaters. He learned about how Harry Potter had survived an attack by Voldemort and how he was now being protected by members of 'the Order of the Phoenix.

"I've heard that members of the order have been posted here inside the castle and are patrolling the corridors at night." Said Hannah.

"It all sounds unbelievable." Said David, but not making it appear that he knew Voldemort personally.

"Well, a lot of it is just rumour and people being scared and panicking. Nobody has actually seen you-know-who, except for Harry Potter and Professor Dumbledore, oh and Cornelius Fudge the minister of magic. It was in the Daily Prophet this summer." Said Zacharias.

"But everyone is taking it seriously and there have been some suspicious deaths and people gone missing recently. Sorry Susan." He added and looked over at her sympathetically

Susan nodded and sniffed.

"We all joined Dumbledore's army last year, so that we could learn how to defend ourselves against dark magic. I really miss those meetings."

"Dumbledore's army?" Asked David.

"I've heard that name before. Colin Creavey told me about it."

"Oh yes." Exclaimed Susan.

"He was there. So was his brother. It was all organised by Harry Potter and that Hermione Grainger. We met in the room of requirement and practiced defensive spells."

She went on to tell him all about the meetings and the spells they learned, how they had communicated by using a special coin and how they had finally been discovered and disbanded by Dolores Umbridge.

David listened intently and tried to remember the list of names that cropped up. He was sure that the Dark Lord did not know a lot of this information and that it might be of some small use.

He didn't believe that Voldemort had actually killed any of these people, but there did seem to be an awful lot of people who were determined to point the finger at him.

I did look like it was Dumbledore and Potter who were the main figures in all of this and he was beginning to understand why it was that Voldemort needed as much information as possible about those two.

It was vital that David kept an eye on them and tried to find out if they were plotting to perform some wicked deed against him. He wondered how these students could believe all the outlandish stories that they had heard about Voldemort. They had never met him, if they had then they would know too that he was a great man.

David was much happier for hearing all of this. He had gained a lot of clues as to the main people who the Dark Lord would like to learn more about and he was also beginning to hate the name Harry Potter.

Dinner that night was another enjoyable affair. David was the centre of attention, as more people added their tuppence-worth on the story of Harry Potter and Voldemort. He learned that there were many people who backed Harry Potter and all that he stood for, but there was also a large number of people who were unsure about Potter and though of him as big-headed and boastful.

Some even considered Potter to be a bit of a story-teller, who made up tales of duelling with the Dark Lord and fighting huge basilisks. There was a lot more to that boy than met the eye. He certainly has some strange peculiarities about him. He could talk to snakes, had secret meetings with Professor Dumbledore and had this weird relationship with the Dark Lord. There was also a rumour that Potter owned an invisibility cloak, which really interested David. He would love to have one of those.

Many of the Hufflepuffs were also taken by Dusty, who entertained them by picking up grapes from a bowl on the table and then dropped them onto the heads of students from other houses. The Hufflepuffs shouted out the name of a student and somehow Dusty knew who that person was. There were peals of laughter as his unerring aim caused the victim of his grape-bombing raid to look up and around to find out what had hit them.

The one disappointment was that nobody had much information about Albus Dumbledore. Although he was the headmaster of the school, he pretty much kept himself to himself during term-time.

He was almost always seen at breakfast, lunch and dinner, but the only other occasions that he was generally seen were the inter-house quidditch matches.

It was well known that he spent a lot of time away from the school and that in his absence Professor McGonagall took charge.

David went to bed that night with his head in a spin. There was a lot of work to be done in his quest to find out useful information for the Dark Lord, as well as a mountain of homework beginning to accumulate.

The rest of the week passed in much the same manner as the previous two days. David sat in class with Susan and hung about with her during breaks and in the evenings. She was a model student and although not top of the class, she was a very talented witch.

Hannah Abbott was also a companion in the evenings, but during the daytime she spent a lot of time with Ernie MacMillan and was also a good friend of a Gryffindor student whose name he had not yet found out.

At the weekend, David spent a lazy day lounging around his room and thumbing through the new textbooks. He kept the window open so that Dusty could fly in and out, but the bird seemed quite content to perch on the back of the chair and simply watch David.

On Saturday night David planned to enter inside Dusty again and to fly around the castle. He wanted to find out what the countryside looked like around the school and to get a better idea of the layout of the school itself.

He left the dinner hall early, while the other students were still laughing and chatting. Then, he locked the door to his room and lay down on the bed. Holding his wand tightly, he looked over at Dusty and thought of the incantation he needed.

Dusty's feathery coat shone in the flickering candlelight and his eyes sparkled as David concentrated on the bird.

Once again he felt the pull on his body and the whoosh of space as he left his own body and turned around to find that he was looking at his inert body on the bed. He wanted to say 'wow', but all that came out of his mouth was a 'caw'.

The world seemed much bigger from inside the body of Dusty. The feel of his wings as he stretched them out was also very peculiar, but not unnatural. He felt as light as air.

All he had to do was to imagine himself as a bird, flap his wings and take off. It sounded easy, but a sudden fear that he might just fall off his perch and onto the floor made him cling onto the chair.

There was nothing for it but to just go for it. Throwing caution to the wind, he opened his wings wide and started flapping furiously. He lifted upwards, but he felt ridiculous. If anyone saw him flailing around like this they would realise instantly that this bird had some severe problems.

With a slight hesitation he headed for the window and after flapping foolishly at the glass, he realised that he was trying to get through the closed side. With an irrational urge to giggle he flapped sideways and finally found the opening.

Once free of the window he flew upwards into the sky. It was a bright and dry evening and the air felt warm and fresh.

It took no more than a minute to find himself level with the topmost tower of the castle. His wings ached a little, so he took a break on the battlement running the length of the roof above the main hall.

Behind him there was nothing but stone and slate tiles. Before him lay a grassy lawn leading out towards a huge forest to the right. There were mountain peaks in the distance. To the left he could see a very large structure that looked like a stadium of some sort. 'Quidditch pitch' he thought to himself. It blocked the view of anything beyond. After taking a quick breather David threw himself forward and glided around to the left.

He swooped around the corner and found that he was high above the greenhouses. There were eight or ten of them, not four as he had previously thought. He didn't have time to stop and count them, as he was travelling too fast to do anything other than concentrate on keeping in the air.

The feeling of freedom and the air rushing beneath his wings was incredible. Windows flashed by in the corner of his eye. He found it a little strange to be able to see sideways out of his head and almost behind him at the same time. The bird's eyes were not pointing forwards he realised.

Around the next corner he got his first real view of the lake. Its dark waters ran almost to the horizon and it was very wide as well. There was a cliff rising up from it to the rear gardens of the school. He would need to get higher to be able to see the full extent of the lake and to get an idea of what was behind it.

In just the few minutes he had been in the air he felt that he was starting to get the hang of flying. It was different to the memory he had of being on a broom, maybe a little more exhilarating.

He swerved left and right and flapped harder to get a little more height again. He soon reached the farthest corner of the castle and turned left again to find himself looking alongside the forest, with Hagrid's hut and garden in the distance.

He tried to look in at some of the windows to see if there was anything worth noting, but the rooms were too dark to see properly. He wondered where Harry Potter and Dumbledore were at that moment.

He had an urge to do a quick bit of spying on them, but an air of caution told him that he must take his time over it. There would be no use in flying from window to window, there were just too many of them for that.

With a jolt of panic he realised that he didn't remember which was his own bedroom window. As he came around the final corner and back to the front of the school, he peered hard for any open windows at the base of the building.

Luckily for him there was only one window wide open at ground level and that was his own. He swept down from on high and headed for the gap. As he passed through, he opened his wings wide and tried to put on the brakes.

In a flurry of feathers he managed to stop in mid-air and turn around. As he did so he saw his body lying on the bed, with open eyes and lolling mouth.

Once again he felt the rush and pull as he left the body of Dusty and re-enter his own. He blinked and gazed in awe as Dusty took control of his bird wings and settled elegantly on the back of the chair.

David grinned as the bird gave him a contemptuous look and began to preen his feathers. He had a feeling that the familiar was none too happy with lending out his body to a learner.

He lay there as darkness grew, thinking about the flight and all the things that he had seen from the air. He also began to think about the things that the other Hufflepuffs had told him about Voldemort and Dumbledore's army.

It angered him that they showed so little respect for the Dark Lord and that they only seemed to fear him. How strange it was that David knew him and also knew that he was nothing like the person of whom they spoke.

'Newspapers.' He thought. They always liked to tell lies about people who were successful and adored by others. He would find out everything there was to know about this Harry Potter and the secretive Dumbledore.

He fell asleep and dreamed about flying around the castle. He also dreamed of a large scarlet coloured bird with golden tail feathers and a golden beak. It flew alongside him and raced him across the lake.

He also dreamed of Dusty, or at least he thought it was Dusty. A raven flew in through his bedroom window, but not the window at Hogwarts. It was another room and another time, long ago perhaps.

He had watched the bird come inside and then perch on the end of his bed.

"You should be asleep, you little scamp." It had said.

"Lie down now, there's a good boy. I'll come and tuck you in later. Go to sleep. Night night."

More Questions and Coincidences

David was so busy in the next few weeks that he hardly had time to think about beginning his real task. He had mountains of homework to keep up with and it was made difficult because he didn't have an immediate grasp of many of the subjects. He often had to trawl his way through his memories to find spells that were tucked away.

He knew that the answers to many questions were in there somewhere, but they were not always immediately to hand. It was frustrating for him, but in class it had no real effect. The others simply thought that he had difficulty in understanding what was being said, or that he was just plain stupid.

During one Care of Magical Creatures lesson, Hagrid asked David if he would like to come and visit him for tea and cakes and that he could bring along Dusty. David thought that Hagrid might be feeling sorry for him, but it didn't bother him at all and he readily agreed.

Later that evening he made his way down to Hagrid's hut and knocked at the door. There was a loud barking from inside and after a few shouts of 'Quiet, Fang!' the door was opened and Hagrid's head popped out.

"Only keep you a minute, David." He said.

"I'll just let Fang go outside for a run. He's been cranky all day."

A big brown dog bundled David aside as it raced down the steps and made its way towards the vegetable patch for a sniff around.

"Come in. The kettle's just boiled and I've got a hot batch of rock cakes just out of the oven." He beckoned to David.

David went inside and took a good look around the room. It was a fairly rickety stonewalled building and was filled inside with all manner of interesting objects.

There were glass cases with small animals inside and cages piled on high in the corner. There was a roaring fire and wooden chairs around a large table. It looked homely enough, but also a bit of a disaster area so far as tidying up was concerned.

Hagrid came over from the kitchen area carrying a tray holding a teapot, mugs and a plate of cakes.

"Help yerself." He said.

"There's no need to stand on ceremony here. Sit yerself down and tuck in."

David shrugged to himself and chose a big cake full of fat brown raisins. The rock cake certainly lived up to its name. It was very hard but also very tasty. The tea was also strong and milky, just as David liked it.

He gave the occasional crumb to Dusty who was standing on his shoulder, making David look like some sort of pirate.

Hagrid sat down on the flowery patterned settee and popped a whole cake into his mouth. He smiled warmly as he chewed on the cake and then after swallowing it, he took an enormous swig of tea out of his mug.

"How is your raven tonight then?" He asked David, while looking closely at Dusty.

"He's the same as usual, I guess. It's hard to know what he's feeling. He never does much other than follow me around and then disappear now and again to get some food." He replied.

"It's very nice having a familiar, but having him follow me around all the time gets very tiring after a while."

Hagrid nodded and tickled Dusty under the beak with his big forefinger.

"Amazin' creatures they are." Hagrid said and ran his tongue around his teeth, trying to loosen some of the raisins that had lodged in the gaps.

"It's nice havin' somethin' intrestin' to chat about." He said.

"I don't often get a chance to talk to students out of class nowadays. Not since they all stopped takin' Care of Magical Creatures." He added.

"What do you mean?" Asked David.

"Well." Stammered Hagrid.

"I used to get regular visits from Harry Potter and Ron and Hermione. I don't know if you know them. But since they dropped my subject I don't see any point in invitin' them round any more."

David grinned to himself.

"Sorry to hear that, but I guess there are just too many subjects to choose from and only a limited amount of time in the week." David consoled him.

"At least you know that all of us taking the NEWT level exams are really keen on the subject and not just doing it as a soft option."

"Yer, I suppose that's true enough." Said Hagrid and took another big gulp of tea.

"Oh, by the way. I just remembered something that I found the other day that might interest you."

He reached over to one of shelves beside him and picked up a sheet of paper that he handed to David. It was a photograph of a group of people.

David looked at Hagrid quizzically.

"Order of the Phoenix." He told him.

David's eyes widened. He had heard that name a number of times now and he knew that it had something to do with Dumbledore. Hagrid began to point out some of the people in the picture.

"There's Professor Dumbledore at the back. You can always spot him easy 'cause he's so much taller than everyone else."

"The bloke on the other side there is his brother Aberforth."

David's eyes glistened as he took in the information and watched the little figures in the picture moving around and waving at the camera.

"A lot of the people in the picture are dead now." He added and David frowned, disappointed that the Dark Lord wouldn't be interested in people who were no longer around.

"That man looks like Harry Potter!" Exclaimed David, as he noticed a couple who were arm-in-arm and messing around alongside a laughing dark-haired handsome man.

"Ohh yer, that's Harry's mum and dad. Killed by you-know-who. Very sad."

David humpfed, but Hagrid was too engrossed in the photograph to notice.

"This is the man I wanted yer to see. He was called Arcturus McKinnon. He was the other Hogwarts student who had a familiar. It was a raven, just like yours."

David looked closely at the man in the picture. He was stood beside a young woman who had her arm through the crook of his own. A slight shiver ran up and down his spine as he watched the woman speak wordlessly towards the camera.

Her eyes were so friendly, so familiar to him but he couldn't place exactly where from. He looked at her for a long time and then back at the man. The man also looked familiar. In fact, he looked an awful lot like David himself.

David looked up at Hagrid and received a huge grin in reply to his questioning look.

"Heh, I thought you'd be surprised. He must be a distant relative of yours. You've got some of his looks alright. Do you have any English relatives at all?" He asked.

David shook his head. He was dumbstruck. The whole situation was as bizarre as anything he had experienced before. Even the raven seemed to have a look of Dusty about it. Admittedly all birds looked alike to David, but there was just a spark of similarity in the way that they both moved.

He had been telling the other students that his mother was English, which was why he could speak the language fluently. However, he felt that he didn't want to say anything to Hagrid at this point.

"Both of 'em were killed not long after this picture was taken. It's a cryin' shame. So many of the best people were lost at that time."

"What happened to the bird after he was killed?" Asked David.

"I dunno." Said Hagrid.

"I read that familiars go back to where they come from when their human partner dies, but I'm not sure if they die too. There's not much known about them, that's why I 'd like to borrow yours a few times if you don't mind me askin'?" Hagrid blushed deeply.

David wasn't offended by the suggestion and he readily agreed.

"Sure. I'll leave him here now if you like and you can keep him for a week or so."

"Aww thanks so much." Said Hagrid.

"It'll be a real treat for me and I promise to look after him for yer."

They both smiled and helped themselves to more rock cakes.

The evening passed very happily for David and Hagrid enthralled him with stories of some of the creatures that he had owned and cared for. David was particularly interested in the dragon that Hagrid had hatched from an egg and he couldn't believe that he hadn't burned down his home in the attempt.

He was also excited because this would give him the opportunity to enter Dusty and to spy on Hagrid without him knowing.

David left Dusty with Hagrid and the bird didn't seem too happy at the idea. He had pecked Hagrid's hand when he was first handed over, but Hagrid hadn't felt a thing and saw it as a sign of affection.

The next day David was already planning in his mind for the visit to Hagrid's hut, but his concentration was broken during the double herbology lesson. Susan told him about a bit of fun planned for the next morning, which was a Saturday.

Hannah had overheard Harry Potter and Ron Weasley talking about tryouts for the Gryffindor quidditch team, which were to take place tomorrow.

So, the Hufflepuffs were thinking of turning up at the tryouts to take a look at the opposition and to try to sabotage the proceedings. Either that or they would have a laugh at the expense of Harry Potter and the other Gryffindors.

David sniggered with glee as Susan whispered in his ear. He could see Potter and his friends chatting excitedly, as they snipped away at little silvery-leafed trees. The class was trimming a collection of ringing bellflower trees, the leaves of which could then be used in brewing potions.

The bellflowers that the trees produced in spring were used in magical alarm clocks and egg-timers.

David continued with the rest of the lesson, conspiring with Susan and Hannah. They were having a really fun time when suddenly the class was interrupted by the appearance of Professor Flitwick.

"What's he doing in here?" Wondered Susan.

The little charms Master spoke quickly into Professor Sprout's ear and she put her hand to her mouth to suppress a cry of shock.

With a shaking voice Professor Sprout then called towards them.

"Hannah Abbot, could you please get your things together and follow Professor Flitwick. Thank you. Quick as you can please."

They looked at each other in surprise, raising their eyebrows and shrugging their shoulders. Hannah grabbed her books and stuffed them into her bag and with a wave to them she said.

"I guess someone wants to scupper our plans for tomorrow."

When Hannah was gone and Professor Sprout could see her and Professor Flitwick disappearing around the corner, she turned to the class and in a trembling voice she told them what had happened.

"Hannah is being rushed back home from the school. We just got an owl from the Ministry of Magic Law Enforcement Department saying that Hannah's mother was found dead."

There was a scream from Susan and cries of shock and fear from almost everyone else. Susan burst into tears and grabbed hold of David who tried to comfort her.

"Please try to keep calm." Said Professor Sprout.

"We'll finish the class for the day. Everyone pack up and make your way back to the school. Please respect Hannah's privacy if you see her there. Good day to you."

The splendid dinner that night was eaten in a very subdued atmosphere. Everyone had been looking forward to the morning's entertainment, but now they just all wanted to get to bed.

Word had already spread to the other houses and David could see students from the other tables looking over at the Hufflepuffs. Hannah was a popular girl and had made many friends in her year. The whole school seemed to be in shock at this sudden tragedy.

After a hurried breakfast the next day, David and the other Hufflepuffs made their way out to the quidditch pitch. David had seen the stadium from the air, but had no idea of what it looked like inside.

He was suitably impressed with the size of it. The pitch itself was longer than it was wide and it must have been five hundred or so feet long. There were tall wooden viewing areas around the outside edges, as well as seating around the pitch itself.

The huge hoops at the ends of the pitch produced shadows in the morning sun that loomed over the seats where a crowd of people had already gathered.

He had a strong urge to grab hold of a broomstick and go for a burnout around the pitch. He wondered if he could fly faster than Harry Potter.

Harry Potter walked out to a round of applause from the Gryffindors and raucous boo-ing from everyone else and there seemed to be a lot of 'everyone else's.

David watched him intently and Ernie MacMillan nudged him and said.

"Bet you'd like a broomstick like that one, eh?"

David tried to make out the tiny words on the handle of the broomstick that Potter was carrying.

"It's a Firebolt!" Exclaimed Ernie.

"Fastest broomstick in the world." He added.

David's eyes widened as he took in the smooth lines of the broomstick. 'Could it beat the Featherlite?' He wondered to himself.

The Hufflepuffs laughed and hugged each other with glee as the first group of students that Potter had selected tried to show off their flying skills. Hardly a one of them could even stay upright on a broom, never mind fly it into the air.

The only boy who did get up into the air flew straight into one of the goalposts. Everyone howled with laughter and Harry Potter threw his arms up in frustration, ordering the group of wizards and witches off the pitch.

The next couple of groups were just as useless. The first one didn't even bother to attempt to fly, they just fell about laughing and then got ordered away too. The next group took things a bit more seriously and they all at least could fly. They headed out together and raced around the pitch, but somewhere along the way there was a collision between two flyers that caused them to bounce into many of the others. It was a bone-crunching pile-up that impressed nobody and caused Harry Potter to actually jump up and down and throw his parchment and quill onto the floor in disgust.

Each of the next group were dismissed by Potter because they had no broomsticks. Susan then gave the signal for the Hufflepuffs to jump out and ten of them ran out onto the pitch towards Potter.

He didn't realise what was happening at first, but when Ernie MacMillan shouted.

"Come on Harry, pick me, pick me!"

Potter recognised the voice and then spotted all of the other Hufflepuffs dancing around and pretending to jump onto broomsticks and fall off them. David and Susan did a fairly passable imitation of the two previous Gryffindor flyers crashing into each other and the others all fell about laughing and jumping on each other to imitate the pile-up.

At the first roar from Harry, they all got up and raced off the pitch. They could just hear him shouting in frustration as they left the stadium and made their way back to the castle.

David had spotted Colin and Dennis Creavey waiting in the seats for their turn to have a go at getting onto the Gryffindor team. He waved at them as he ran past and the two brothers returned the greeting and shouted.

"We're trying out for the team. We're going to replace the Weasley brothers as beaters."

Dennis waved a beater's bat in the air. It was almost as big as he was and it must have been heavy, because he toppled sideways and clonked Colin on the top of the head with it. Colin didn't seem too bothered by this and David's last glimpse was of him showing Dennis how to hold it using two hands instead of one.

"Where did Potter get himself a Firebolt from?" David asked Ernie, as the two clutched their sides and slowed down to a walk.

"I heard that he got it from a rich relative of his, a guy called Sirius Black." Ernie replied.

"Black was put into Azkaban for killing a load of muggles, but escaped and then broke into Hogwarts and tried to kill Potter. But then it turned out that he wasn't trying to kill him at all. Anyway, he bought the Firebolt for him and that's why Gryffindor have been winning their quidditch matches. Nobody can match potter for pace when he's flying the Firebolt."

David hung around with Susan before lunch and they spent the time with Susan showing David how to play gobstones. It seemed like a pretty pointless pastime to him, but Susan was keen on showing him the ins and outs of it. She told him that she played for Hufflepuff in competitions.

During lunch David thought about entering Dusty again, to see what Hagrid got up to when he was alone. He told Susan that he was going to his room to do a bit of reading and although she appeared to be a bit put out, she still said that she'd call for him later on.

David locked the door of his room and lay down on the bed, his wand clutched tightly in his hand. He closed his eyes and imagined himself inside the strange bird. With a thrill of anticipation, he spoke the incantation inside his head.

Once again there was the now familiar rush and pull, as he left his own body and streamed across the lawns and through the door of Hagrid's hut.

He was perched on a pole at the far end of the room, away from the fire. Hagrid was bent over, busying himself with something in the other corner. It was only as Hagrid stood up that he saw to his horror that Hagrid was holding a large white maggot.

He brought it over to the table, in order to take a closer look at it under the lamplight. David couldn't help himself and he let out an involuntary 'gag'. However, as a bird the sound that came out of his mouth was just a 'caw'.

Hagrid looked over at him and grinned broadly.

"Hehe, you can't eat this yer silly bird."

David froze in terror, thinking that Hagrid would recognise that he was now looking out at him from inside Dusty. But, no! Hagrid turned away and put the maggot back into the barrel that David could now see was sitting in the corner.

Hagrid then wandered out of the room and David heard the front door creaking shut behind him. He took the opportunity to flit around the room and peek into the barrel. The sight was horrible. I t was full of maggots, not just the one that he has seen earlier.

Hearing someone shouting outside, he flew back onto the perch and waited quietly for Hagrid to return. He did come back in, but his mood was completely changed. He seemed angry, or something. He chunnered to himself and then stopped and looked at the door, as someone rapped hard from outside.

Hagrid stood behind the door, peering through the letterbox and after a short exchange of words, he returned and with him were the three Gryffindors: Potter, Grainger and Ron Weasley.

David held his breath and kept as still and silent as was possible, hoping that nobody would spot him and start asking questions.

In the end, there was no need. Their attention was completely drawn by the barrel of maggots. David listened as Hagrid talked with the three friends about the maggots and then about why the three of them were no longer taking Care of Magical Creatures.

'Pretty boring stuff.' thought David. However, there was then a mention of them being at the ministry and smashing all of the 'time turners'. At least, it sounded like that. David wondered what they were and if anyone knew that those three kids had done the smashing of them.

The air in the room then changed completely and Hagrid began to sob and blow his nose. He then proceeded to tell the three about someone called 'Aragog', who was very ill and possibly even dying. David listened intently as Hagrid told them that Aragog's tribe was no longer friendly with him.

David assumed that there were people living in the forest. 'Wild people' he thought. He made a mental note to tell Voldemort these little pieces of information.

Before too long, the Gryffindors had finished their mugs of tea and rock cakes that Hagrid had brought out for them. They said their goodbyes to Hagrid and left. As the door closed, Hagrid wiped a few tears from his face and then went over to the fire to warm his hands.

"I knew they wouldn't have time fer my lessons." He said to the glowing logs in the hearth.

"Ahh, it's great ter see 'em back here though. Best friends I ever 'ad."

Hagrid turned around to warm his backside and David saw that he was now smiling happily. For some reason, David found this a little disconcerting. He thought that he should feel jealous that Hagrid was on such good terms with the Gryffindors, especially as he had been invited there for tea himself only the day before.

But, he didn't feel that way at all. He felt sorry for Hagrid. He was a very kind man who appeared to have a personality as warm as anyone he had ever met before. He was genuinely kind and caring.

With that thought on his mind, he felt himself being drawn out of Dusty and back into his own body.

A Pleasant Walk with Susan

A small tapping at the door indicated that Susan had found out where his room was located.

"Wow, this is totally amazing." She purred, as she came into the room and looked around.

"I have to share with four other girls. It's murder trying to be the first to get into the bathroom each morning."

David laughed.

"Five girls and one bathroom? I bet there's a lot of arguments about people taking too long in there."

"That's right. It's always a bit chilly on the stone floor to bother wandering upstairs to the bigger bathrooms. You just have to wait your turn."

She wandered around the room, nosing into every corner, opening drawers and peering inside. She found the crystal ball that Voldemort had given to David and held it up to the light.

David gasped as he saw her lift it. He had forgotten about the ball and its use. He held his breath half expecting to see the face of Lord Voldemort appear inside it, but nothing happened. He took it off her and put it back in its place.

"Be careful with that. It's a present and I don't want it to get damaged." He told her, trying not to sound too bothered by the fact.

"Boys and their toys, eh?" She giggled.

"You're always paranoid that we girls will break your stuff. Especially broomsticks." She grinned.

"Where do you keep yours?"

"That's the one thing I haven't got here." He said sadly.

"I used to be pretty good on a broom when I was at Beauxbatons. I used to play seeker for the Sournois team."

The memory of his quidditch victory as Davide was quite strong and he was longing to have a go at flying in a real quidditch match.

"It's a pity you aren't a full-time Hufflepuff." Susan sympathised.

"We've struggled in matches since we lost Cedric Diggory." She sounded disappointed and a little sad.

"Let's get some dinner and then maybe go for a walk outside or something?" Suggested David.

"Yeah, thanks. That sounds great." Said Susan and the two of them went off together to the great hall.

Throughout dinner, the Hufflepuffs chatted together about the Gryffindor quidditch tryouts. They were very happy that things didn't seem to go too well for Harry Potter.

"I think we should have a really good chance of beating them this year." Said Biggins, as he chewed noisily on a hunk of pork that he had bitten off from a thick meaty chop.

The others agreed and started to make comparisons between the current Hufflepuff team and the Gryffindor team of the previous year.

"They've lost the Weasley twins and they're going to be hard to replace." Said Justin Finch-Fletchley.

Everyone nodded in agreement. There was plenty to look forward to in the upcoming quidditch season.

"You had enough to eat?" Susan asked David.

"Yeah, plenty thanks." He answered. He had eaten two helpings of Lancashire hotpot, with huge dollops of piccalilli on the side. That and a large slice of rhubarb crumble drowning in creamy custard.

They left the table and walked to the doorway leading to the front entrance. Outside the sun was getting low in the sky, but it was still a warm and pleasant evening. Over in the distance, they could see a black line of smoke rising skywards from Hagrid's chimney.

They walked out onto the grassy lawn in front of the school and headed to their right, away from the path that led down towards Hagrid's hut.

"So, how are you enjoying Hogwarts?" Asked Susan, as she turned to look at David.

"Brilliant." He said.

"It's better than anything I could ever have imagined."

Susan grinned and held out her hand. David took it and they walked together around the castle. She told David a little of the history of Hogwarts that she had picked up over the years and pointed out areas of the castle and grounds that were famous or popular with students.

David listened and took in the splendour of the school as they walked hand-in-hand. Suddenly Susan stopped walking and looked down at her feet. She stood silently. For some reason she had remembered what had happened during the summer holidays.

"Is something the matter?" He asked.

"Yes. I was just thinking about my aunt Amelia." She finally said.

David put a consoling hand on her shoulder and she turned to face him, with tears filling her eyes. David wasn't sure what to do, so he hugged her tightly and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"I know what it's like to lose someone close."

It was a lie, but a lie with the best of intentions. He hadn't really known anyone close to have died apart from his own parents, but he was only a baby at that time. The people he had lost were foster parents that he had grown attached to and then been taken away from.

He had not given a thought to William and Sarah Pryce for a long time. After the visit of Lord Voldemort to the hospital in France, there had been a major murder enquiry and investigation into the disappearance of David.

Although he didn't know it a team of French wizard aurors had also been sent by their ministry of magic to find out more about the unexplained deaths. They concluded that the victims were all muggles and there was no evidence that magic had been used to kill them. However, the case remained open since there was no explanation for the disappearance of David.

Now Susan and David walked together towards the lake at the end of the lawns. They sat together under a tree and flipped stones across the flat surface, flicking them using their wands.

Susan soon cheered up again and laughed as they each tried to get their stone to bounce further then the others.

"I like being with you." Susan said, although she didn't look directly at him as she did so.

"Thanks." He replied, feeling a few butterflies dancing in his stomach.

"I thought you might be fed up of seeing me every day in lessons and stuff."

"Nah." She giggled and snuggled up closer to him.

David smiled to himself and closed his eyes. 'Could things be any better?' He asked himself.

His blissful thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a nagging recollection that he should be concentrating more on his task for the Dark Lord.

"I really enjoyed having a bit of fun with Harry Potter the other day." He said.

"Oh yeah." Said Susan.

"He was getting really annoyed. I thought he was going to hex someone."

"Does he have a bit of a temper?" Asked David.

"I think so. He's shouted at teachers in class before. He had a bit of a reputation a few years ago, when there was a lot of trouble caused by the monster in the chamber of secrets."

"What?" Said David and looked at her in surprise.

"Everyone was saying that Potter was the heir of Slytherin and was a dark wizard." She told him.

"He made a snake to attack someone by speaking to it in Parselmouth."

David was almost speechless. He had never heard this before.

"So why are you not scared of him now?"

"Oh, it was all sorted out in the end and he seems okay now. He has always been nice to me and we all were good friends in Dumbledore's Army." She explained.

"But there are still all sorts of stories and rumours about him and the Slytherins all hate him, especially that Draco Malfoy."

"Malfoy? I've not really met him yet. Just seen him around and in classes." Said David.

"He's very haughty, so don't expect him to talk to you. Plus, he's got some thuggish friends so be careful not to annoy him." She warned.

"Thanks for the advice." He grinned.

"He's another boy with a lot of secrets." She continued.

"There are rumours that his parents are death-eaters, so lots of kids are scared to get on his bad side."

David thought about what she had said. Death-eaters were the followers of the Dark Lord, so maybe Malfoy could be a useful friend to make. He would have find that out for himself.

"Have you ever spoken to Professor Dumbledore?" Asked David.

Susan jumped up and sat on his legs facing towards him.

"Only once. I was walking through the courtyard and he was passing by. He stopped to ask me if I was enjoying the tri-wizards tournament. I told him that I was and he smiled and said 'Oh, I'm glad to hear that.' Then he went off again."

"I've hardly even seen him since I've been here." Said David.

"He seems to be absent from lunch and dinner quite a lot of the time."

"I guess he eats up in his rooms at lot. He's very busy. Though some people say that he leaves the castle quite a lot, doing work for the ministry." Susan said.

David was disappointed that it looked like Dumbledore didn't mix much with the students, so it hardly seemed likely that anyone would be able to tell him much about the headmaster's private life.

He would have to think of another way. Maybe to chat more with the other Professors, or to spy on him as Dusty. He was worried about trying this though, because of what Fawkes might do if he saw another familiar nearby.

As the day began to get to a close, David and Susan made their way back to the castle. They walked slowly holding hands and occasionally taking a sneaked glance at the other one. When their eyes met they would both grin and look away, as if caught doing something mischievous.

They passed through the great hall and the ceiling mirrored the sky outside. It was just turning from dark blue into a purplish colour that was beginning to become sprinkled with the tiny points of light of stars.

A few groups of people were still inside and chatting together, drinking hot chocolate and munching elf-made biscuits. One or two heads turned as they saw Susan and David holding hands and he knew that they would soon be gossiping about it.

Back in the Hufflepuff common room, they sat together on a big sofa that faced the glowing fire. David watched the dancing flames and pondered the task ahead. It was going to be difficult, but he had to make a proper start before too long.

Susan got up and said that she was off to bed, but as she was about to leave she suddenly turned and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. David watched her walk towards the girls' dormitory, but his brain was turned to mush and he couldn't think of anything more that night.

He went to his room with his mind in a spin and just lay on the bed. He went through every minute of his walk with Susan and finally fell asleep with a very big smile on his face.

A Trip to Hogsmeade

The next few weeks passed in a haze. David was officially 'going out' with Susan and he spent most of his time with her. They already had classes together and now they were sitting next to each other at mealtimes and when they had free time together, they would visit the library or take a walk out in the grounds.

David was enjoying the studies more and more. He was finding it easier to remember spells and began to slowly forget the life that he previously had. Susan wasn't particularly interested in his so-called French upbringing, but when she asked about Beauxbatons he was easily able to describe the chateau and grounds.

He gave her a full description of the Professors there and the subjects he had learned. She was impressed to find that he had taken cookery classes there and that it had been a big part of the curriculum.

"Over here girls learn how to cook by following their mother at home." She told him.

"I'll cook something for you, if you like sometime." Said David, who was beginning to believe that he could perform any of the spells that the real Davide had learned.

Dusty showed no obvious outward dislike of Susan, but he didn't sit on David's shoulder when the two of them were together. Susan thought that Dusty was amazing because he loved to be around David, but couldn't see and real point in having a raven as a pet.

"He's not a pet." Said David.

"But he's not big enough to carry mail is he, so what's the point of him?" She asked.

David certainly didn't tell her about how he could enter Dusty and fly around the castle unseen. He hadn't done that for weeks and now that he thought about it, he had been rather neglecting Dusty recently. He made a mental note to buy something nice for Dusty when he got the chance.

In the middle of October the notice board in the main entrance showed that the first Hogsmeade village visit of the year would take place the following weekend. During the week David bumped into Colin Creavey in a corridor and they agreed to meet up in the main entrance and go along with Dennis to the village.

Susan wasn't too happy that she would have to spend a day on her own, but she didn't want to go along with three boys. She didn't want to stop David getting his first look at the shops in the village either, so she made alternative plans with another Hufflepuff girl who also wasn't going.

The days leading up to the weekend dragged slowly as far as David was concerned, but at last Saturday came and he got ready to go.

"Are you coming, Dusty?" He asked the bird, who was perched on the back of the chair with his head under his wing.

Dusty raised his head and took a look outside at the slanting sleet. David looked out and could see that it wasn't really the sort of weather for birds to be outside. He opened the window and a cold breeze filled the room.

"Brr, I'll leave the window open for you but it's getting closed as soon as I get back."

David had borrowed a big coat from Biggins, who was busy studying that weekend and wasn't particularly bothered about going to Hogsmeade. He put it on and went out to find Colin and Dennis.

The two Creaveys were waiting excitedly in the main entrance by the huge front doors.

"Hi, David." Shouted Dennis and he clapped David on the back.

"It's going to be a cold day, but we can get ourselves a hot butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks Inn later on. That will warm you up!"

"Do you have butterbeer in France?" Asked Colin.

"Not really." Said David.

"It's all wine and brandy over there."

The three of them passed through the doors and the biting wind took a hold of them straight away. They didn't hang around and the two Creaveys led David along the well-worn path that led down to the village.

They chatted as best they could about the shops that David would find there, but David only caught half of what they said as they were muffled up with scarves across their mouths.

David's first impression of Hogsmeade was that it looked like something out of a Christmas card. There was snow on the ground and buildings and the sleet still fell. There was bright light streaming out of the shops and they all looked warm and inviting.

David had a pocket full of coins and he intended to spend all of it. The first place they entered was Honeyduke's sweet shop and inside the shelves were filled to bursting with all manner of sweets and chocolate.

One of the school Professors was already in the shop and cheekily sampling the wares on offer. He was a very large man and was wearing a furry hat and coat. He winked at the boys as they tried to push him out of the way to get to the shelves of goodies.

There was a display of fizzing sherbet balls and free samples to try out. David popped one in his mouth and his eyes opened wide as he felt an incredible tingling sensation inside his mouth. He began to drool and dribble uncontrollably and the Creaveys roared with laughter as David tried to chew and swallow the raspberry flavoured sweet.

When he finally managed to gulp it down his eyes were streaming with tears.

"Whoa, that was just the fizziest thing ever!" He spluttered.

They spent a good hour inside the shop looking at everything on offer, from cockroach cluster to chocolate frogs. David bought bags of everything that looked tasty. He ignored the cockroach cluster.

Colin and Dennis bought handfuls of chocolate frogs, as they each collecting the cards inside the packets.

"I'm short of seven wizards to complete my collection." Colin explained.

"I've got all the witches that there are. Dennis needs another twelve different witches and wizards, but then he's not been collecting them as long as I have."

They left the sweet shop with many a backward glance, but Dennis had to go to Scrivenshaft's to buy a new bottle of ink and several quills. David also bought new parchment, ink and quills.

From there they passed by the boarded up shop front of Zonko's joke shop and the Creaveys looked longingly at it. Dennis tried to peer through the wooden boards to see if anything was left inside.

"This was the best shop in the world." Said Dennis sadly.

"Everyone used to come here to get their joke stuff. We have to wait until Christmas now, before we can go to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes down in Diagon Alley. It's a crying shame."

"It's a pity." Agreed David.

"I could do with a few laughs now and again. I've never been to Diagon Alley before."

"Oh you ought to go if you get the chance." Said Colin.

David nodded and pulled his coat collar up further.

"I need to get a coat of my own. Where do they sell them around here?"

"Gladrags Wizardwear." Said Dennis and pointed over the road to a gaudily-dressed shop window.

There were three tailor's dummies in the window and each was dressed in a variety of bewildering garments. Fluorescent green stockings with a matching hat accompanied a cerise set of robes on one of them, the others were even worse.

They went inside the shop, with David wondering if they sold anything normal at all. He needn't have worried, because the shop sold all manner of clothing including some muggle attire.

"We cater for muggles as well, dear." Said the old witch who was standing behind the counter.

"We're not prejudiced here, you know."

Dennis whispered into David's ear, that the old lady was a little crazy and that there were no muggles living in Hogsmeade.

David bought himself a new jacket, a fleece-lined parka that would keep out the cold and a pair of sturdy boots. He also bought himself a new set of muggle jeans, t-shirt and jumper. He also bought a backpack and crammed all of his goods inside.

They went out into the cold again and walked up and down the main street, looking in at the windows of other shops but not going inside. Dennis was starting to feel the cold biting his feet, so he suggested that they warmed up inside the Three Broomsticks.

They hurried along and Colin led them into the friendly inn. They kicked their shoes against the wall to knock off the snow and went inside. Immediately, there was a raise in the noise level and they felt a wave of heat hit their faces.

They hurried over to the open fire and held out their hands towards the flames. They were soon laughing and joking about the old woman in the clothes shop and talking about the sweets they had bought from Honeyduke's.

Colin went over to the bar to order drinks and David had a chance to look around the place. It was warm and welcoming and was filled with groups of wizards and witches enjoying a day out in the village.

As he was waiting, a breathless Zacharias Smith sidled over and in an excited whisper said.

"Did you see the trouble outside earlier?"

"What trouble was that?" Asked Dennis.

Zacharias' eyes widened and he spoke in a rush as he described the scene that had occurred just outside the inn.

"Harry Potter had a hold of some guy by the throat! It looked like he was going to kill him. Those two friends of his were grabbing hold of him and trying to stop him from throttling the poor bloke."

"Who was he attacking?" Asked David.

"I don't know. I've never seen him before. Some wizard who was in here selling odd bits and bobs out of a suitcase."

Zacharias looked over at a table where Harry Potter was sat with his two constant companions. He had a face like thunder.

David and Dennis watched the three friends as Zacharias slipped off to carry the gossip further around the room.

Colin came back with the butterbeers and gave the others one each. They took deep sups of the foaming tankards and smacked their lips in appreciation.

"Brilliant!" Exclaimed David.

The two brothers looked at each other and laughed.

"We knew you'd like it." They said together.

They saw a table close to Harry Potter and his friends and Colin said.

"Let's get that table there, near to Harry."

They hurried over, but were just in time to find Harry and the others getting up and leaving the pub. It was quieter on this side of the bar, with just a couple of wizards enjoying a quiet drink. Everyone else appeared to be crowding around the big fire on the other side.

Dennis told Colin what Zacharias had told them and Colin nearly dropped his drink in amazement. He stared at the door through which Harry just left and took another sip of his butterbeer.

"I heard he can get really aggressive sometimes." Said David.

"Well, I know him really well and I can't say that I've seen him go crazy at all. It's always other people that cause the trouble and then Harry just gets caught up in it. He's always been friendly towards me and Dennis."

Dennis nodded in agreement and they went on to tell David about being taught to duel by Harry in the DA club. They also told him about the time that Harry returned from the triward's tournament maze with the dead body of Cedric Diggory.

David was fascinated to hear all the new stories and he felt that he was beginning to get a hold on the character of Harry Potter. He thought that Harry was an attention seeker and invited trouble by sneaking around and interfering in matters where he shouldn't.

He also thought that Harry like to be in charge, like when he ran the DA club. Perhaps he had a yearning for power. He guessed that the Dark Lord would be interested in that snippet of information.

They sat sipping their butterbeers, feeling the warmth returning to their extremities and soon the chat had turned to Susan Bones.

"I see that you and Susan are seeing a lot of each other at the moment." Grinned Colin.

David blushed but grinned back.

"Yeah, we're sort of an item but it's early days yet."

"I fancy that Ginny Weasley, myself." Chimed in Dennis.

Colin laughed and grabbed his brother by the neck and started to roughly rub the top of his head with his knuckles.

"I'm first in line when she dumps Dean, just remember little bro'".

The two of them play-wrestled at the table and David laughed and egged them on and then joined in holding down Colin as Dennis exacted his revenge on his brother. He gave him a giant 'wet willy'.

They finally finished their drinks and decided that it was time to get back up to the school. As they made for the door, they were almost bundled over by Zacharias who was huffing and puffing.

"Just ran back down the road. Potter again. Trouble up the road. I think someone's been killed!"

They looked at each other in shock and then after coming to their senses, they rushed through the door and hurried towards the path that led up to the school.

They had missed the incident and there was only a few students hanging around and looking at the patch in the snow where someone had been lying and thrashing around by the look of it.

They didn't bother hanging around because the sleet seemed to be getting worse and the cold was starting to take hold again.

Back inside Hogwarts, David bad a friendly goodbye to the two Creaveys and promised to meet up with them again to watch the upcoming quidditch match.

David got back to the Hufflepuff common room and felt the warmth of the fire hit him like a brick wall.

The room was alive with the buzz of people talking about what had happened in Hogsmeade. Apparently, Katie Bell had to be rushed to the hospital wing by Hagrid after Harry Potter and his friends had been involved in an altercation with her.

When he had heard everyone's interpretation of the events, he spent several more minutes acclimatising himself back to the normal temperature then took off for his own room.

Once inside, he unwrapped all of his packages and put away the items that he had bought. The sweets from Honeyduke's filled the whole top drawer of the dresser. He had to take out the socks that were in there and then cram them into the next drawer down, in with his spare undergarments.

He kept out the little bag of assorted Bertie Bott's every flavour beans. He was giving those to Susan as a gift. He also pulled out a handful of plain peanuts and put them on top of the wardrobe for Dusty, who fluttered over and began to nibble them appreciatively.

His thoughts then turned to the small crystal ball that was hidden at the bottom of his travelling trunk. It was time that he made his first report to Lord Voldemort.

With a slight apprehension he opened the trunk and located the shining orb. After going to the door and locking it firmly, he took the ball over to the bed and then sat up against the headboard.

He clasped the ball with his right hand and with a thrill of anticipation, he tapped it with the wand he held in his left.

He sat and waited.

He waited a long time, maybe an hour and he was beginning to think that the thing wasn't working. Suddenly the ball began to fog up inside. Grey mist swirled around from deep within and began to form the outline of a face. It was a face that once seen would never be forgotten.

Voldemort's visage leered out from the confines of the glass. It was slightly warped by the curve of the glass, but perfectly visible to David. He looked hungrily at the image and then licked his lips.

"My Lord." He began.

"What have you learned that is of importance?" Asked Voldemort.

David didn't wait and straight away ploughed into the details that he had picked up in his conversations with the other students. He told Voldemort the names of all those that had given him the information and of his own thoughts and ideas.

Voldemort paused for a while before asking David.

"Do you know what Dumbledore and Potter are doing when they meet?"

"No, my Lord. They are locked inside the headmaster's room by all accounts and late at night too."

"And nobody has heard where Dumbledore goes when he is not present at the school?"

"Some say that he is doing work for the ministry of magic." David shook his head, disappointed that he couldn't offer more.

"Members of the Order of the Phoenix are also inside the castle?" Voldemort continued.

"I met a young woman when I first got off the train and I've been told that she might be one of them."

"Find out her name." Ordered Voldemort.

"And get me the photograph of the order members that you saw in Hagrid's hut. Give it to Madam Rosmerta, the innkeeper at the Three Broomsticks"

"Rosmerta? Yes, my Lord."

"Also give her a list of the students who were in this so-called Dumbledore's Army club."

David nodded.

"Do you have anything more to add about the girl who was attacked by Potter?"

"No, my Lord. It only happened a few hours ago so the story hasn't got round yet. Just the rumours we've heard so far."

"You have done well, apprentice." Said Voldemort.

"Most of the information was already known to me, but there are a few things that may prove useful. The fact that Dumbledore has a 'familiar' was certainly not known to me. However, I need further details of Dumbledore particularly. Who he meets and where he is going. Keep a track of Potter's movements and anybody new that he has interaction with."

David nodded again in acknowledgement.

"I am pleased with your progress. Continue to serve and you will be honoured appropriately."

Voldemort gazed keenly at David.

"Thank you, my Lord. I will do my utmost to serve you and earn any reward."

Voldemort vanished in another puff of grey smoke and David smiled happily to himself.

He then remembered that he hadn't told the Dark Lord about his friendship with Susan. He didn't know why, but he felt that maybe it was better not to have done so. He didn't want to hide the fact from him, but it just wasn't that important to the task in hand that it was worth mentioning.

He jumped up and put the ball back in its place in the trunk. It would probably be a while until he had anything more to tell the Dark Lord, at least anything of worth. Harry Potter was a secretive boy and with an invisibility cloak he would be hard to follow.

David unlocked the door, called for Dusty to hop onto his shoulder and then left to find Susan. He grabbed the every flavour beans from the dresser as he went out.

Conversations Overheard

The following Monday saw nothing of note happen to David. He spent most of his free time in the library, mulling over the conversation he had with Voldemort.

It was only on the Tuesday morning that he had a bit of luck. He was in the herbology greenhouse that housed the snargaluffs when he caught a snatched part of conversation between Harry Potter and his two friends.

David and Susan were working behind the three Gryffindors that day. The students were each attempting to extract snargaluff pods from inside the vicious gnarled, but innocent-looking stumps.

Susan had gone to fetch goggles and pairs of protective gloves from the stores, when David heard the name 'Dumbledore' mentioned by Ron Weasley.

David ducked down under the bench that he was working on and moved a little closer to the three students. He pretended to be looking for something on the floor.

Although he didn't know it, Harry and his friends had forgotten to cast the muffliato spell around them and David was able to catch the last part of their chat. He heard Harry say something like.

"He says it's all important and it will help me to survive".

Then Hermione replied.

"I think it's fascinating. It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?"

David's heart leapt as he heard the Dark Lord's name mentioned. He now knew that Dumbledore was training Potter to fight against Voldemort. Dumbledore must have some idea of the types of spell that Voldemort could and couldn't perform.

He was training Potter to duel!

The conversation then turned to some stupid party that Hermione Grainger had been to. David wasn't interested in the details, so he carefully stood up again in time to see Susan walking towards him and beaming broadly.

She handed him a pair of dragonhide gloves and said.

"Your turn first."

They both looked at the stump that sat there peacefully.

After half an hour of fighting with the plant, David and Susan managed to extract a pod each. They stood gasping and looking at the slime-covered pulsating green pods.

Professor Sprout shouted for the students to get the precious tubers from inside the pods and the pair used a sharp silver knife to pierce its tough skin. Eventually they had a bowl full of the wriggling tubers and they took them up to the Professor.

The lesson ended with the students being given another essay to write on flesh-eating plants. One full sheet of parchment was required, but at least they could fill a large part of it with what they had learned about the snargaluffs that day.

Charms and transfiguration didn't yield any more information for David, as they were all too busy with the difficult spells now required at NEWT level. Susan partnered David throughout the classes and indeed it was becoming difficult to separate the two friends.

Susan had a lot in common with David, though she did not know it. They were both parentless and didn't have many friends inside or outside of school. Susan also didn't know that David's parents, like her own had been killed by Voldemort's followers.

They didn't openly flaunt their friendship, but spent long hours working together in the common room or library, or taking walks outside in the school grounds. Each night they would say goodnight with a passionate kiss.

David was careful not to kiss Susan too often in front of Dusty, because he wasn't certain how the familiar would react to someone else getting all of his attention.

The rest of the week passed quickly and the talk in school was all about the weekend quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Katie Bell was out of the match and was to be replaced by a boy that David didn't know much about.

It turned out that Harry Potter hadn't attacked Katie at all. She had been hurt by accidentally touching a cursed necklace. It had been inside a paper parcel that she had found in the girls' bathroom at the Three Broomsticks.

Susan told him that the replacement's name was Dean Thomas and that he was going out with Ginny Weasley, the sister of Harry Potter's friend Ron. David already knew that they had both been members of the DA.

This reminded David that he needed to steal the photograph that Hagrid had shown him and that the Dark Lord wanted to see. He decided to enter Dusty that weekend and to get it while Hagrid was watching the quidditch match.

His plan was to feign sickness and to tell Susan that he would be having a lie down in his room. If he were lucky enough he would still be able to watch the quidditch, but would have a bird's eye view of the match.

Sure enough, on Saturday David met Susan for breakfast but didn't eat anything. He persuaded her to go to the match herself, so that she could tell him all about it later.

With a thrill of excitement at his first real piece of planned spying, he went through to the Hufflepuff common room and on to his own. The place was deserted, as everyone was clothed up ready to go down to the quidditch stadium straight after breakfast.

David locked his door and studiously looked at Dusty, who was preening himself by the open window.

"Sorry that I've been neglecting you lately, Dusty." He told the bird.

"But now we can go out and do a little work on behalf of the Dark Lord."

He opened the window a little wider, as he didn't want to catch his wings as he flew through and he knew that he wasn't much of a flier yet. He then lay down on the bed and began the familiar routine of holding his wand tightly and speaking the special incantation inside his head.

"SPECIALIS LOCOMOTOR EX…"

The words were no sooner said, than he swoosh-ed out of his prostrate body and into that of Dusty.

He took a second to get used to the new form that he had taken and then had a look round at his body lying there inert on the bed. He had to suppress a giggle at the thought of himself flying around and looking down on all the other students without them knowing he was there.

He guessed that in the excitement of the match, nobody would pay any notice to a single bird flying high in the air.

David tested his wings by flapping them furiously, then jumped out towards the window and the cold air outside.

He found that the frosty morning was more refreshing and invigorating than uncomfortable. He rejoiced in the freedom of soaring high up into the air and then swooping down low over the lawn.

His first thought was to follow the students down to the quidditch stadium and to try to find Hagrid, just to make sure that he wasn't in the hut when David went looking there. Hagrid wouldn't be hard to find, even in the midst of a throng of waving students.

He set off and made his way up and along the side of the castle. As he passed a tall window on the seventh floor, a movement inside the building caught his eye. It was the shining blonde hair of a student hurrying along with two small girls in tow.

'That's a bit odd.' He thought to himself. 'I wonder who it is.'

He banked over to the window and landed on the ledge, peering inside and finding that it was a long corridor.

He then recognised the boy as Draco Malfoy, the student in his year about whom David had yet to find out more. He had always been aloof with David and hadn't offered to make his acquaintance, if he passed him in the corridor. David felt strangely drawn to the boy, but since he had found out that Malfoy hated Harry Potter, he had still not attempted to have a proper conversation with him.

David was curious to find out why Malfoy wasn't watching the quidditch match, indeed he surely should have been playing in the match. Didn't Malfoy play seeker for the Slytherin quidditch team?

What on earth was he doing in a corridor at school when he should have been out on the pitch? And what were the two girls doing with him?

He watched as Malfoy stopped walking and turned to the girls. He couldn't hear what was said, but Malfoy was pointing up and down the corridor and waving his arms animatedly.

The smaller of the two girls then went and stood sulkily on one side of the corridor. She leant against the wall and David could now see that she was holding something tightly in her folded arms. It was a jar. He couldn't tell what was inside it at this distance, but he itched to find out.

The second girl then slouched back along the corridor, towards the staircase and the window where David perched outside. She soon went out of sight as she went down the stairs.

David stared in and saw Malfoy looking up and down the wall on the right-hand side. He now seemed to be muttering to himself and pacing up and down. Then without warning a door suddenly appeared in the wall in front of Malfoy, who reached for the handle as if he had been expecting it all along.

Malfoy opened the door and went in to the room behind. The door closed then and melted away as if it had never been there. David could not believe his eyes. What had just happened? The small girl walked over to the now empty wall and gave it a kick.

This was just too weird. There must be a hidden room in that corridor and Malfoy knew how to open the door to it.

David thought about it for a minute and then decided that a hidden room in a magical castle was maybe not so surprising after all. Perhaps it was just another classroom, one that he never used for his studies. The only curious part of the affair was the two girls being kept outside. Why did they go there with him in the first place? He made a not of the small girl's face and then leapt backwards from the window ledge.

He arced over to his left and saw the last few stragglers making their way into the quidditch stadium. He swept over behind them and then looped up above the topmost stand.

The sight that caught his eyes as he entered the stadium was unbelievable. There was a roar of noise from the crowd and he saw the two teams walking from the changing rooms and out onto the pitch. The stands were a mass of bright colours representing the two teams. There was mainly scarlet and gold for Gryffindor, with green and black for Slytherin.

David could see the twinkling reflection of sunlight on Harry Potter's glasses, as he led his team out to the centre of the pitch. Madame Hooch was waiting there, with the box containing the quaffle, bludgers and golden snitch.

'I'll just watch fro a little while.' David told himself and settled down on top of the stand. He felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck, as the teams got into their positions and the balls were released.

Immediately, Harry Potter raced up into the sky almost at a level with David. His speed on the firebolt broomstick had to be seen to be believed. David watched greedily as the game went into full flow and he could see the players moving around like pieces on a chessboard.

He came out of his reverie and took a look around at the crowd, hoping to spot Hagrid. Sure enough the giant man was in the middle of a group of Gryffindor students, shouting and waving his massive arms.

With a nervous gulp, David turned away from the match and lifted off towards Hagrid's hut. There was nobody around and even as he squeezed in through an open window, even Hagrid's huge dog Fang didn't wake up.

David flitted silently into the room that he thought held the photograph and he took a look around. It was a plain bedroom with a big bed and several wardrobes and chests of drawers. There was a bedside table with several books dumped on top higgledy-piggledy. He recognised one as the monster book of monsters. It was snoring away gently.

He then spotted what he was looking for. The photograph was propped up against another picture of a tiny man and a giant of a woman. In the picture, the man was being thrown up and down by what looked like a giant schoolboy. It must have been Hagrid. The two looked happy enough, smiling and laughing for the camera. The woman had a rather sour look on her face though.

David grabbed the photograph in his beak and flew through the hut and out of the window. His heart beat fast as he suddenly thought how obvious it would look if anyone saw him. Why would a raven be flying through the air carrying a large photograph?

He flew as low as he could and by the straightest route towards the castle. Then he hopped and scuttled along the edge of the lawn and back to his room. Thankfully, nobody had seen him.

Once he was back inside, it was only a moment before he had returned to his body and was taking the photograph out of Dusty's beak. The bird cocked his head and looked at David quizzically.

"Don't ask, Dusty." Said David.

He took the photograph and hid it inside his trunk, at the very bottom and placed carefully inside a pair of pants. He had done it! His Master would be extremely pleased with this piece of work.

David unlocked his door and made his way to the great hall. He needed a snack and something hot to drink. After all, flying was thirsty work.

When Susan got back after the match was over, there was a lot of excitement about what had happened. Harry Potter had caught the snitch and won the game for Gryffindor, but there had been a lot of needling between the two teams and a lot of fouls taking place.

Zacharias Smith had been commentating and apparently had been smashed into by Ginny Weasley on her broomstick at the end of the match. Everyone could see that she had done it on purpose and poor old Zacharias had been stretchered off to the hospital wing with a concussed head.

Susan linked her arm through David's and asked him if he felt better.

"Yes, thanks." David had replied.

"I think the lie down did me some good. I could eat two lunches one after the other right now."

Susan giggled and their eyes lit up as the afternoon meal duly arrived on the table. Roasted chicken and mashed potato with thick brown gravy to pour over it. David tucked in heartily and sneaked a sly glance up at the head table, where Hagrid was laughing and chatting merrily with the other Professors.

He was once again lost in thought and staring at the Professors when he came to his senses and realised that he was looking directly at Professor Dumbledore. The headmaster was looking right back at him.

David froze in shock and embarrassment when he realised that Professor Sprout was standing right beside Dumbledore and that she must have pointed him out and told the headmaster who he was.

Dumbledore raised his glass of pumpkin juice towards David, in recognition of his attention but David was caught like a rabbit in a car's headlights.

Dumbledore was used to the effect that he often had on new students. Most of the time they were in awe of him and so it was no shock to him to find that David just sat and stared back with open mouth.

The headmaster smiled politely and then resumed his conversation with Professor Sprout. David quickly looked away, with a worry that the headmaster had read more in David's look than was good for him to let on.

He needn't have worried though. Professor Dumbledore's thoughts were elsewhere and his first view of the French exchange student was only of mild interest to him. Dumbledore made a note to introduce himself to David at some point and to welcome him to Hogwarts, but only if he should chance to meet him in a corridor.

Hagrid had not had the chance to have a long conversation with Dumbledore since his return to the school, so he had never mentioned the fact that David had a 'familiar'. This of course would certainly have been of real interest to the headmaster.

Susan put her hand on top of David's and the warm touch made him look up at her. Her large brown eyes were filled with the dancing light of the candles surrounding them. David looked at her and his heart melted with happiness.

Neither of them saw that Dumbledore had looked back over towards David and was watching the two friends. He was contemplating the look in Susan's eyes as she gazed adoringly at David. It filled him with an inner joy to see that amidst all the darkness and adversity, there was still the light of love and kindness blossoming and growing.

Dumbledore raised his glass again in a silent salute to love and friendship then drank the contents in one go.

David didn't mind missing out on the first quidditch match of the season, because there was the prospect of Hufflepuff playing against Ravenclaw on the following weekend.

Although this wasn't one of the 'glamour' matches of the season, it was generating a lot of interest in the Hufflepuff common room. Hufflepuff had not won the quidditch cup at Hogwarts since 1761 and they were usually the favourites to finish bottom, thus receiving the wooden cauldron as a booby prize.

David and Susan had watched a few practice sessions for the Hufflepuff team, but these had been outside in the grounds, rather than inside the stadium. It rankled with the Hufflepuff captain that Gryffindor and Slytherin seemed to be given priority when it came to booking the stadium for practice.

Still, on the day of their first match the Hufflepuffs all made their way to the stadium in a happy mood.

The atmosphere was more subdued than that of the previous match. Not many Gryffindors had made the effort to come and watch. Mostly they were members of the quidditch teams who wanted to spy out the opposition. No Slytherins were there.

David and Susan jumped up and down as the two teams emerged and walked in line down to the middle of the pitch. It was his first real-life experience of competitive quidditch and he loved it.

Hufflepuff played really well and although they had been well behind in terms of goals scored, their seeker managed to grab the golden snitch and with it the accompanying victory by 280-200 points.

This put Hufflepuff in second place and the crowd had gone wild with glee at such a good start to the season. David had become hooked on the game and he dreamt about playing for the Hufflepuff team himself.

Susan laughed, as they sat together at the Hufflepuff table that night at dinner and David talked of nothing but that afternoon's game. He recalled every goal, every save and every bludger that had been hit.

"You're turning into a quidditch commentator." Said Susan and tickled him under the chin.

"I'd have loved to have seen the quidditch world cup final." He said.

"Are there any recordings of it?"

Susan thought about it for a while then replied.

"I did read that some people were selling memories of the game, but you have to have a special viewer for watching them. I think it's called a pensieve. They're really rare and expensive to buy."

"Sounds brilliant." David enthused.

"Yeah, but you never know what you're going to get when you buy a memory like that. You could end up with something completely different to what you're expecting." Susan warned him.

"Oh well, we'll just have to go and watch the real thing next time around." He said and looked at her expectantly.

"Boys and quidditch!" She tutted.

Christmas at Hogwarts

The next week started with the excitement of seeing Hannah Abbot return to Hogwarts. She had missed a large part of the term, but she had been given work to do while she had been at home.

Everyone told her how pleased they were to see her back and nobody asked about her mother and what had happened.

Time had been passing so quickly for David that he barely had time to think about the forthcoming Christmas holidays. He hadn't heard from any of Voldemort's followers to say that he could go back to the chateau for the break, so he let Professor Sprout know that he would stay at Hogwarts.

Susan was staying at Hogwarts because she had no real family to go back to at home. After her aunt had been killed during the summer, she was the only 'Bones' left alive out of all her immediate family.

Since the death, she had been looked-after by her neighbour Esmerelda Digwort. She was an old friend of her parents and was a witch with a kind heart. She was keeping an eye on the house for Susan while she was at Hogwarts and Susan had let her know by owl that she would stay at school for the holidays.

As Christmas approached, Hagrid had brought a dozen huge trees into the great hall and they were decorated with candles, baubles and fairies. They glowed and glittered around the sides of the room and a pine-scented fragrance hung around the entire castle.

There were other touches around the place too. Suits of armour, statues and gargoyles were all brightened up with tinsel and mistletoe. Candles filled all the usually dark crevices in corridors and under staircases.

Excitement of another kind was also mounting between the students. Rumour had it that one of the Professors was organising a big party and there would be wonderful food, special guests and music provided.

It was a major let-down to find out that the party was being held by Professor Slughorn and that it was his usual bunch of cronies who were to be invited. This included a few of the Hufflepuffs, but most students would never have the chance to find out how good the party would be.

There was a lot of talk amongst the Hufflepuffs about the party and it was Biggins who suggested that they organise their own alternative, to be held in their own common room.

Everyone agreed and Biggins managed to persuade Professor Sprout to organise food and drink with the school house-elves. A few of the older Hufflepuffs had a secret stash of butterbeer and a bottle of firewhiskey, and they promised that they would make a special punch.

There was an old radio in the corner of the common room, but it could put out quite a loud noise when it was turned up to maximum volume. This was to be the source of the music, through the wizarding wireless network's late night music show.

So, on the last day of the school term the Hufflepuffs students got together and decorated their common room especially for the occasion. The carpet and curtains were magically transformed in colour from woody greens, browns and yellows into multicoloured hues of bright red and white.

Lanterns and streamers adorned the walls and ceiling, and one of the twelve trees from the great hall was dragged inside and placed in the centre of the room. It was too large to fit in completely, so the top three or four feet had been blasted off by one of the seventh-year students. He hadn't succeeded entirely and the top section still hung down, dangling and held in place by a strip of bark.

The food and drink was placed around the tree, on the common room tables. A large space was left around the outsides and in front of the great fireplace.

Professor Sprout told them that she would pop in later if she got the chance, but she too had an invite to Professor Slughorn's party and that was too good an opportunity to miss.

The Hufflepuffs had a fantastic time playing a variety of parlour and party games, organised by a seventh-year girl friend of Susan's called Lucy Proudfoot. The firewhiskey punch didn't make an appearance, but there was butterbeer aplenty and the younger students drank pumpkin juice and ginger beer.

"How are you enjoying it?" Lucy shouted to Susan above the din of the party.

"Great." Replied Susan.

"David has just gone to get another butterbeer for us."

They were standing by the fire and the red glow of the flames lit up their dresses. They had both put on their best party frocks. Lucy's was a delicate satin-like pink material that shone brightly and flowed right down to her feet. Susan's was a pale chalky blue and it moved gently in the draught from the fire.

"You're really keen on David, aren't you?" Asked Lucy.

"Yes." Agreed Susan.

"I've never met anyone like him before. He's a very caring person, but totally dedicated to his studies."

"I must admit that I fancied him myself when he first arrived, but you beat me to asking him out for a date." Lucy giggled.

Susan laughed.

"I didn't even have to use a love potion on him either."

They both giggled and put their arms around each other.

"How are things between you and Tobias?" Susan asked.

"Oh, same as ever. He's more interested in his quidditch and his mates than going out properly with me. I've lost any real interest now. I want someone who is more dependable, the strong and silent type." Said Lucy.

"So who do you have in mind?"

"Well." Lucy coughed and whispered.

"Have you ever noticed that Neville Longbottom is getting better looking nowadays?"

"Neville Longbottom?"

"Shh!" Hissed Lucy.

"He's tall, pretty good-looking and he's fought against you-know-who and the death-eaters this summer, at the ministry with Harry Potter. There's more to him than meets the eye." She added.

"Well, you're a dark horse Lucy Proudfoot. I never would have suspected, but you're right about Neville. He's always been a friend of Harry Potter and he's definitely getting more handsome as he's getting older. You'd better be quick though, because Hannah Abbot is keen on him too and it won't be long before she makes a move on him."

Hannah was standing nearby and chatting to Ernie MacMillan.

"I can hear you, Susan Bones." She called to them with a grin.

They giggled again, but quietened as David arrived with the drinks.

"Sorry Lucy, I only brought two butterbeers." He apologised.

"That's okay, I was just off anyway to have a go at 'pin the horn on the unicorn'. See you later." Said Lucy and she disappeared into the throng and towards a blindfolded boy being spun around by a group of friends.

"Fancy a walk around the castle?" He asked Susan.

"Sure. Just let me put on a coat." She replied.

David was wearing a hooded pullover, so he didn't need anything warmer. He waited for Susan to get back from the dormitory, then they held hands and walked out into the corridor leading to the great hall.

As the door shut the noise level decreased dramatically. Susan pulled David towards her and pressed her lips against his. They kissed for several minutes and then laughing together, they trotted up and into the great hall.

It was a little colder in there, but not too unpleasant. The place looked eerie in the semi-darkness, with the guttering candles reaching the ends of their wicks. A couple of house ghosts were also floating along at the far end of the room, deep in conversation. David could hear the rising and falling tones of their sad voices.

They wandered out into the entrance hall and lingered again by the front door. They kissed in the bright moonlight that was streaming in from a window high above. Just then, they heard a commotion somewhere on a higher level. Someone was shouting.

They moved into the shadow of the front door and held their breaths, as they heard the sound of hurried footsteps coming down a staircase. The footsteps grew louder, until suddenly they saw Draco Malfoy coming down in what appeared to be a very bad mood.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice David and Susan. He rushed past them and turned towards the corridor that led away and down to the dungeon levels.

"Someone's in a hurry." Said David.

"Malfoy. I don't like that boy." Murmured Susan, unsure as to whether they should linger by the front door.

"Let's go back to the party, I'm getting a little chilly here and there are just too many people wandering around in the dark for my liking."

"I agree with you." Said David.

"The place is full of odd people and things. By the way, do you suppose that Malfoy was up in the room on the seventh floor? He asked.

"Seventh floor?" Said Susan.

"Why would he be up there? There's only the room of requirement on that level. He's more likely to have been gate-crashing the party in Slughorn's room."

"Of course!" Said David.

He led Susan back to the common room, thinking about the room of requirement and what the DA had been using it for. Of course Susan would have been in the room before, as she had been a member of the group.

He didn't fully understand the way that the room of requirement worked and he had assumed that it was just another room in the castle. Nobody had mentioned before that the room was hidden to those who didn't know where to find it.

They shared a last glass of pumpkin juice before kissing goodnight and making their way back to their beds. David fell asleep with the image of Draco Malfoy standing before him. He needed to have a long chat with that boy. He was up to something and David wanted to know what it was. He felt sure that it was something to do with Harry Potter.

The next few days were spent finishing off the last of the essays that he and Susan had been given by their Professors. There was a difficult one given by Professor McGonagall that involved explaining the theory behind human transformation, indeed one of their last classes saw them attempting to change the colour of their hair and eyebrows.

David had managed to successfully change the colour of his own to a dazzling shade of green, but Susan had only managed to change hers to a paler shade of brown. Still, it had only been their first attempts so they didn't expect to perform the task to the exacting standards of the Professor.

There were only half a dozen other students staying at school over the holidays and it so happened that Draco Malfoy was among them.

They had been given permission to visit Hogsmeade on the days leading up to Christmas, so David and Susan took the opportunity to go into the village to do some shopping.

David still had a fair amount of the gold that he has been given by Voldemort and he used it to buy more clothes for himself and a silver necklace for Susan. The necklace had a yellow gem hanging from it that represented a favourite Hufflepuff colour.

The two friends spent a happy couple of hours in madam Puddifoot's teashop. They shared a pot of steaming hot tea that took off the chill from the walk into the village. They also chose a slice each of Dundee cake and a newly baked scone that they covered with mounds of butter, cream and jam.

There was the customary visit to the sweet shop and they filled their pockets with fizzing whizbees, Bertie Bott's every flavour beans and David's favourite chocolate frogs.

Susan also took David into the Three Broomsticks and bought them each a frothing mug of butterbeer. The inn was filled with people all chattering excitedly and showing off the presents that they had bought.

David held Susan's hand under the table and watched the multicoloured assembly. They were right by the big fire and their toes were as warm as toast. It would have been nice to stay there all afternoon, but they had to be getting back to the castle.

They were the only two Hufflepuffs left in the school over Christmas, so they had the whole common room to themselves. The night before Christmas saw them snuggled together in a comfortable sofa, watching the fire blazing late into the night.

The sparking logs caused the baubles and tinsel around the room to shimmer and shine like stars in a summer night's sky.

As Susan's head nodded onto his shoulder and she fell asleep David's eye was caught by a movement in the shadows in the corner of the room. He held his breath and watched as a tiny figure emerged into the firelight and picked up a log from the hearth and then threw it onto the fire.

It was a house-elf. That was obvious from the way that it moved and the fact that it had an enormous head compared to the skinny body. David sat in silence and watched the elf tidying up around the fireplace.

His thoughts then went back to his time at the chateau and he wondered what Pinky and the others were doing. He had bought a Christmas card and framed pictures of Hogwarts for the elves and then sent them via post owls the day before. He hoped that would arrive in time.

He remembered the look of adoration that Pinky used to give him when they were having fun together and it made him smile. He put his arm around Susan and held her closer.

In the morning they woke up to find that they had both drifted off on the sofa and they needed to go and wash and get changed. They grinned at each other and then raced away to their rooms to prepare for the day.

Dusty flew straight onto David's shoulder as he entered the room and he was pleased to see that the bird had missed him being there overnight.

"Merry Christmas, Dusty." He said and scritched him on the head.

He suddenly noticed that there was a large owl standing on the bed waiting for him. It turned its large head towards him and hooted, holding up a leg to indicate that there was a letter attached.

David was amazed to see that it was meant for him. He rushed over and untied the letter from the owl and it stretched its wings wide and then jumped off the bed and through the window.

He read the name on the envelope and his heart skipped a beat. It was addressed to Davide Bertillon and the sender's name written on the back was Jean-Claude Duchard.

With trembling hands David opened the seal on the envelope and took out the parchment from inside.

The letter was written in very neat slanted handwriting, using black ink. The letters had many flourishes and it was obvious that the writer had been well-taught. There was something strange about the words though that David couldn't place at first. It was a moment before he realised that it was written in French, but he could read it quite perfectly.

_Dear Daffers,_

_I hope you are well and enjoying your time at Hogwarts. We are all missing our best friend here at Beauxbatons and it is so boring without you to annoy me. I'm having to hang around with Malou and Blanche this year. They are only interested in studying for exams and spend most of the time in the library._

_I really miss the times we had together flying on our broomsticks. I've got a new Aerosweep 5 and it will blow yours away at any time. Are you playing any quidditch over there? The only good thing for me is that I can now play in your place on the Sournois team. I've been moved from reserve chaser to reserve seeker!_

_I'm sorry that I haven't written to you until now, but I wasn't sure how you might be coping with the loss of your parents. I really am sorry for you my friend and if you need anything just let me know._

_If you aren't doing anything over the summer holidays then maybe you can come and stay at our place for a while? I'm sure there will be lots to catch up on when we get together._

_Until then, I hope you have a good Christmas with your new British friends. Drop me a line back if you can so that we know that you are okay._

_Best wished from your friend Jonkers._

David read the letter twice and his blood ran cold at the words 'the loss of your parents'. What had happened to the real Davide's parents? Did he know that his parents were dead and where was he now? Once again there was a nagging doubt in the back of his mind and it was getting stronger.

He needed to find out those answers, but he had a sudden terrifying thought that all three of the family could be dead. Killed maybe, but by whom? He didn't want to think about the obvious answer, but he had heard so many stories about Voldemort that he was struggling to come to terms with the reality.

The side of him that revered Voldemort and thought of him as the man who had rescued him from his life of misery finally won the battle in his mind. He put all his reservations to one side again and decided to write back to Jean-Claude as soon as he could.

He threw the letter onto his bed and got himself washed and changed into new clothes. He took Susan's present from inside his trunk and after putting a handful of nuts in a bowl for Dusty, he walked out through the door.

Susan was there waiting for him in the common room and standing directly under a large bunch of mistletoe. She looked up at it as he approached and David grinning widely grabbed her around the waist and gave her a passionate kiss.

"Merry Christmas." He said and handed her the present.

"And the same to you." She replied and handed over a parcel wrapped in shiny Christmas paper.

They both laughed and eagerly opened up their gifts. Susan was overjoyed with hers and gave David a quick peck on the cheek. He helped her to put on the necklace and it matched perfectly her clothes. She was wearing a low-cut green and yellow dress with a matching hairband and shoes.

"Thank you so much." She said and gave at him with dewy eyes.

"My pleasure." Said David.

"Oh, cool!" He exclaimed as he took from his parcel a wristwatch. It was round-faced and had a leather strap. The numbers seemed to be made out of fiery letters that moved as if a small breeze were fanning them.

"The numbers change as it goes from day into night. Later on the fire letters will change to silvery ones that represent the moon rising."

"Nice. I love it. Thanks so much." Said David and gazed avidly at the glowing numbers.

They took a quick breakfast and didn't eat much as they were looking forward to the Christmas lunch and didn't want to spoil their appetites.

There were only four other students who were staying at Hogwarts over the Holiday period and they each came down in turn to get their breakfast. There were three young students, two girls and a boy who looked like they might all be from the same family as there was quite a resemblance between them. They sat together at the Ravenclaw table and chatted amongst themselves.

The last person to arrive was Draco Malfoy. He appeared to be very tired and sat for a long while at the Slytherin table before looking up and taking a slice of toast from the rack.

David watched him for a while, as Susan talked in the background. Eventually he made up his mind to go over and introduce himself.

"Excuse me for a moment, Sue." He mumbled and got up and headed over to Malfoy.

Susan looked up at him and wondered what on earth David would want to say to Malfoy, but she said nothing.

"Excuse me." Said David as he reached Malfoy's seat.

"My name is David. I haven't been introduced to you before, but I thought it was about time that we met."

Malfoy looked at David in surprise, but there was also a glint of suspicion in his eyes.

"Draco." He replied and they shook hands.

"You're the exchange student aren't you." He said.

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Yes."

"French as well, aren't you?" He asked.

"That's what they tell me." Grinned David.

Malfoy gave a snort. He wasn't sure about David and he certainly didn't trust anyone that he didn't know thoroughly.

"What's your background? Are you pure-blood?"

David blinked.

"I don't know what you mean by that."

Malfoy looked amazed. He was beginning to think that David was a bit simple.

"Are your parents wizard and witch?" He said slowly, so that David could understand.

"Of course, but they died when I was a baby." David told him.

Malfoy seemed to accept this and continued to probe David.

"So where were you brought up? Where did you learn your magic?"

"I've lived in France and was taught at Beauxbatons. Though I have had a little extra training in duelling from a family friend Rodolphus L'Estrange."

At that name Malfoy dropped his toast and he looked at David with fear in his eyes. His face went even paler than it already had appeared. The look was not lost on David and he wondered why on earth Malfoy had reacted like that.

"Do you know him?" Asked David.

Malfoy licked his lips and his eyes darted around the room as if looking for someone who wasn't there. He dropped his voice and whispered to David.

"Of course I know him. He's my uncle."

This time it was David's turn to be shocked.

"Then he must have told you about me then? I only met him for the first time this summer."

"I haven't seen him for ages." Replied Malfoy.

"Are you some kind of ministry spy trying to get information about him from me? I haven't seen him do you hear."

"What are you talking about, spy? I just came over to be friendly as I could see you were on your own over here." Explained David.

But Malfoy was now convinced that David had been asked to find out about the whereabouts of Rodolphus. He snatched a couple of rounds of toast from the table and grabbed the pot of coffee and a cup. Then he stormed out of the room leaving David standing there feeling stupid.

'What had just happened?' He asked himself. He had wanted to talk to Malfoy and find out more about him, but somehow he had managed to upset the boy and even to scare him. Why had Malfoy been so upset to be asked about Rodolphus and was he really his uncle?

David wandered back to the table where Susan was waiting to find out what was going on.

"What did you say to him that made him so upset?" She asked.

"I just asked him if he knew someone called Rodolphus L'Estrange and he got really angry with me." David answered.

Susan put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Now what's wrong with you?" He asked in disbelief.

"Why is everyone so bothered by that name?"

"L'Estrange is Malfoy's uncle." Said Susan quietly.

"I thought everyone in the school knew that. He's a death eater! He was one of those people caught in the ministry of magic this summer. He was arrested and was being taken to Azkaban when he escaped along with most of the others. How come you know of him?"

David had to think fast and blurted out.

"Erm, he was a friend of my parents and I got told by Biggins that Malfoy was related to him, but I didn't know about the death eater stuff."

Susan grabbed his arm and pulled him down into the seat beside her.

"Stay away from that boy, he is bad news. He's been accused of bullying before now and I wouldn't trust him to set his two friends on you in some quiet corridor." She looked at him earnestly.

"Don't worry about me, I can look after myself." Said David and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

They finished their breakfast in silence, both filled with dark thoughts. The name of the death eater L'Estrange had brought back memories of her aunt to Susan. David was thinking about Malfoy and wondering even more about whether or not he might have some useful information.

The two went back to the common room and filled in the time until lunch by playing gobstones. David had never played it in reality, but had memories of learning the rules at Beauxbatons.

He was now finding it easier to slip backwards and forwards between the real and false memories that were implanted in his head. So far there hadn't been any complications and he was only worried that someone in France might start asking questions about Davide and come over to meet him in person.

Susan was a good player and won all of the games easily. They had to put on protective cagoules to keep the stinking sap off their clothes while they played, but it was an entertaining morning. The wizarding wireless network was playing Christmas carols and the pair of them were in a very festive mood.

Eventually the time arrived for them to go down for lunch and they raced together into the great hall.

Their eyes lit up as they saw that all the tables had vanished apart from a long and wide one left in the middle of the room. It had been decorated with no expense spared by the look of it.

Over the wooden table had been placed a green and golden cloth that hung over the sides and hid the legs. Around it were placed a dozen high chairs decorated with wreaths of holly and tinsel. The table itself had myriad golden candlesticks and baubles scattered around so that it glittered in the light of the ceiling and the hundreds of candles that floated above and around it.

There were dishes and bowls filled with mounds of roasted potatoes, carrots, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, small sausages and every other one of David's favourite Christmas foods. The gravy boats were huge and clouds of steam were rising up from them.

As they gazed in wonder at the feast, the other people came in and joined them. The three siblings squeaked and whispered, pointing out the various comestibles. Their main focus of interest was the massive turkey that sat in pride of place at the head of the table. It was the size of an ostrich and David wondered whether or not it was indeed a real turkey.

Malfoy stood sullenly by, but looked most elegant in a dark suit and white shirt. He looked over at David, but didn't say a word.

The Professors came in together and were led by Albus Dumbledore. He was wearing a red, green and gold set of robes that made David think of what a skinny Father Christmas must look like.

"Sit, sit everybody" Called out Dumbledore.

"Let us not waste time in admiring the beautiful meal that has been prepared for us, when we can be sat down and appreciating its delicious taste!"

Dumbledore took his place at the head of the table and directly opposite him sat Professor McGonagall. She was already laughing and chatting to another woman that David did not know. David thought that maybe the Professor had enjoyed a glass or two of sherry earlier on.

Dumbledore waved his wand at a pile of plates that were sat on a food trolley beside his chair and they separated and floated over to the table. A second flourish of the wand caused the carving knife and fork to rise and slice the turkey into pieces.

Dumbledore then used his baton like an orchestra conductor and the turkey was dished out onto each of the plates. The plates then made their way to the diners and plonked themselves down in front of them.

"Tuck in." Said Dumbledore and the students and Professors helped themselves to the potatoes and vegetables.

It took David almost five minutes to load up his plate with a little of everything that was on offer. The air was filled with the excited chatter of everyone around the table, except for Malfoy who sat and ate his food in silence.

David noticed that Dumbledore kept glancing over at Malfoy and looking at him with pity on his face.

"Pull a cracker with me." Said Susan and held out a huge white cracker.

David grinned and grabbed hold of the end. As he pulled there was an enormous 'bang' like a firecracker going off. The air was filled with a shower of sparkling stars that settled down on the table, in their hair and onto their plates of food.

The others at the table gasped in awe and made a grab for more of the crackers. Suddenly there was a cacophony of bangs, whistles and the crash of cymbals as each person pulled their cracker with a neighbour.

David pulled another cracker with the witch who sat on his left side. She introduced herself as Professor Burbage. David's cracker had contained a pair of bright yellow canaries that fluttered away and a large conical white hat with red pom-poms on it. He put the hat on and also pocketed the prize, which was a wand-cleaning kit.

Professor Burbage's cracker dispensed three blind white mice that wandered around the table knocking over the salt and pepper pots. Her hat was a multicoloured bishop's mitre and the gift was a pocket book titled 'House-elves of the World'.

Susan's cracker that she pulled with Malfoy and who held it with a look of irritation contained a dozen or so balloons that floated up to the ceiling. Her prize was a small mirror that showed your reflection, but with funny changes to your face such as a bushy moustache and eyebrows.

Malfoy was not impressed when Susan showed it to him and he caught a glimpse of himself with bright ginger hair, thick black glasses and a huge banana-shaped nose.

Laughter filled the room as they each showed their gifts to the others and Susan's mirror was a hit with almost everyone. David couldn't see what Dumbledore was viewing when he took a peek, but whatever it was caused the headmaster to giggle and guffaw uncontrollably.

Tears of suppressed laughter fell down Dumbledore's face and the others fell about watching him struggle to regain his self-control.

"Oh dear, oh my." Said Dumbledore.

"Laughter. Again one of the most powerful forces about which we know so little."

The meal continued in the same fashion and David joined in the merriment, reading out some of the jokes from inside the crackers.

"How many witches does it take to change a lightbulb?" He asked the table.

"We don't know. How many witches does it take?" They all chimed together.

"It depends on what you're changing it into." He said sheepishly.

There was a huge groan from the collective and then riotous laughter. That was the best of the jokes. Others included:

'What is the difference between a house elf and a troll? One will make you your dinner, the other will make you his dinner.'

And:

'What is a hag's favourite letter of the alphabet? Hex.'

Dumbledore produced a bottle of oak-matured mead from somewhere inside his robes and he dispensed a glass of it to each person. He proposed a toast to Hogwarts and everyone drank in response. Malfoy merely sipped at his drink, but it was obvious that he enjoyed the taste because he accepted a second glass when Dumbledore sent the bottle around the table.

The atmosphere settled down as the Professors finished off their mead and then opened up bottles of elf wine. Professor Dumbledore chatted to the three students who nervously answered his questions about how their studies were going and if any of them had been attacked by the plants in Professor Sprout's greenhouses.

David helped himself to nuts and a tangerine and munched on these as he struck up a conversation with Professor Burbage.

"What is it that you teach?" He asked.

"Oh muggle studies, don't you know." She replied and gazed at him with rosy cheeks.

The elf wine was starting to have an effect on her. She was smiling and slightly glassy-eyed.

"It's such a fascinating subject." She continued.

"You would never believe the kinds of things that muggles get up to. They waste so much of their time driving around in motor cars and shouting at each other, instead of learning how to apparate and avoid the hassle."

David nodded in agreement, though he personally thought that it was unlikely that muggles could ever learn how to apparate.

"That's why I think it's important that we witches and wizards try to integrate more and more with the muggle world. If more witches and wizards married muggles, then eventually the world would be full of magical folk and there would be no more need for the statute of secrecy and separation of the muggle and magical world."

David continued to listen, though his mind was now wandering. He looked over at Malfoy, as the Professor continued to waffle on about co-operation of the ministries and the benefits to wizard-kind. Malfoy was staring at her with pure hatred on his face and his knuckles were white as they gripped a spoon full of Christmas pudding.

Eventually, she seemed to have exhausted her topic and she turned to face another Professor who listened to her patiently. Malfoy gave David a quick look and then returned to his pudding.

David then turned his attention to Professor Dumbledore, who he saw had also been listening to Burbage's exhortations. The headmaster smiled at David and then spoke to him.

"And how is our French friend enjoying a traditional British Christmas dinner?"

"Fantastic." Said David and ignored the loud 'harrumph' he heard from Malfoy's direction.

"This is the best one I think I've ever had." He beamed.

Susan leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek and David blushed.

"Professor Hagrid told us that you keep a phoenix. Is that true?" He asked. He tried his best to pretend that he hadn't heard Malfoy cough loudly at the words 'Professor Hagrid'.

"Yes, it's true." Said Dumbledore.

"I believe that we have something in common in that respect." He added.

"Your raven is a familiar, is it not?"

"That's what they tell me." Said David.

"Although he doesn't seem to do much other than eat and sleep."

"You haven't had him long, so you can look forward to finding out more about him and his usefulness in the future." Dumbledore continued.

"If you like I can show you Fawkes, the phoenix that is and I can illustrate one or two interesting facts to you.

"Wow, that would be great." Said David.

"Thank you very much Professor."

David grinned happily and turned to the watching Malfoy and gave him a wink. Malfoy scowled and looked over at Dumbledore who was now chatting merrily with Burbage and the other Professor.

David turned his attention to Susan and looked into her bright eyes.

"You having a good time?" He asked her.

"Great." She said.

"I can't remember the last time I laughed so much. It's taken my mind off the problems I've been brooding over for ages."

"Good." Said David.

"Do you fancy a trip into Hogsmeade tomorrow? We can have a bit of time on our own for a change."

Susan readily agreed and handed David a plate full of mince pies.

Lessons in Apparition

The following day was cold, crisp and fresh outside. David and Susan wrapped up in warm clothes and headed down the familiar lane into Hogsmeade.

Dusty had decided for once to accompany David and he sat shivering on his shoulder, his feathers puffed out to try to provide a warm layer of air. They hurried along and decided to make their first stop at madam Puddifoot's tea shop.

Inside the room it was warm and inviting. There was a pervasive aroma of hot chocolate and pastries. David still had several of Voldemort's gold coins left and he bought two huge mugs of steaming hot chocolate and a couple of whortleberry turnovers, topped with clotted cream. Dusty was treated to a crumbled biscuit, which he gobbled up greedily.

Susan doted on Dusty and made a big fuss of him. The bird responded in kind by pecking softly at her fingers as she tickled his neck. David enjoyed looking around at the various customers who came and went. He saw his first hag, a hideous bent-backed old crone with a large hooked nose and he nudged Susan excitedly to get her attention.

"Don't make it so obvious." She told him.

"You don't want to upset her and get yourself turned into something slimy, or for her to slip you a potion so that you fall madly in love with her." She grinned.

David gulped and tried to hide himself under the table. Susan pulled him up by the collar and he sat more quietly from then on.

Once they had warmed up sufficiently and finished off their drinks they headed back out into the cold. There was a fairly thick layer of snow on the ground, but along the pavements it had been trodden down into an icy slush.

They popped into Honeyduke's sweet shop and bought another selection of goodies, then wandered further along the road and into the Three Broomsticks to revive themselves with a hot toddy.

Madam Rosmerta welcomed them warmly and served them with a glass each of hot mulled honey wine. They took their drinks to a table in a corner near to the fire and warmed their toes on the hearth.

Susan soon became sleepy in the spiced atmosphere of the inn and she rested her head against the wall. She soon fell asleep and David had to take the glass out of her hand to stop it falling out of her hand and onto the floor.

As he placed it carefully on the table he saw in the corner of his eye a person that he recognised entering the inn. It was Draco Malfoy.

He watched as Malfoy looked around and then moved quickly towards the bar. He mumbled a few words to madam Rosmerta who then beckoned him towards a door behind her. He ducked under the bar and followed her into the room.

David's curiosity was peeked immediately and without a second thought he whipped out his wand and cast the spell to allow him to enter Dusty.

As he flew out of his body he glanced backwards and saw it fall sideways onto Susan. He tried to suppress a giggle as it landed face first in her lap. It looked ridiculous, but could easily pass for being asleep.

In Dusty's body he leapt as quietly as he could towards the door behind the bar. Although it had looked open from where he was sitting, he found that there was a bead curtain inside it and there was no way that he could get through it as a bird.

With a caw of frustration he dropped to the floor and tried to observe what was going inside. He could see Rosmerta's back as she stood with her hands on her hips talking to the hidden Malfoy.

"He ordered a bottle of it as a present for Dumbledore for Christmas, but he never came round to collect it. He'll definitely come for it as some point because he's already paid for it." She told him.

"Excellent." Said Malfoy delightedly.

"Add this to the bottle and then re-seal it."

David couldn't see what Malfoy passed to her, but Rosmerta leaned forwards and accepted something from him.

"Be careful not to get it on your skin, or you will be dead within an hour." Said Malfoy with a note of warning in his voice.

David reeled backwards in shock. It sounded as if Malfoy was asking Rosmerta to put poison in something and that it was meant to be given to Dumbledore. He decided that he had heard enough already and he hopped back under the bar and performed the counter-spell to return him to his own body.

He jumped up from Susan's lap and stared in horror as Malfoy crept out of the back room and swept out of the front door of the inn. He was no admirer of Dumbledore himself, but to imagine that Malfoy wanted to kill him was sickening.

His hand trembled as he lifted his glass of mead and took a large gulp. Susan shifted in her sleep but didn't wake up. He looked at Dusty, who hopped up onto the table and cocked his head at him.

He needed to tell someone, to try to stop it. His mind raced. There was only one thing to do. He needed to tell Lord Voldemort and find out what to do about it.

He shook Susan awake and told her that they needed to get back to the school. She was annoyed and confused at being woken up in such a fashion and made her feelings know to David all the back along the road.

She left him in a huff as they got back to the Hufflepuff common room and David went straight to his room with Dusty. Once inside he threw open his trunk and pulled out clothes and books haphazardly until he found what he was looking for. The small crystal sphere that he used to communicate with the Dark Lord.

He leapt onto the bed and sat up against the headboard. Holding the ball in one hand, he tapped it lightly with his wand. He spent an increasingly nervous fifteen minutes or so repeating the process before he eventually got a response.

The face of Voldemort was impassive as David heaved a huge sigh of relief.

"My Lord, I'm sorry to inconvenience you but I have to tell you what I've just seen in Hogsmeade."

David then repeated the whole story of Malfoy and Rosmerta to Voldemort, who listened silently but then grinned evilly and gave a short mirthless laugh.

"Young man, this news is of no consequence to you at all. Pay no further heed to it, but continue in your task."

David was stunned, but dared not to say anything out of turn.

"Have you any other information for me?" Said Voldemort.

David stammered, but managed to relate his conversations with Professor Burbage and Dumbledore during the Christmas lunch.

Voldemort's eyes lit up as he heard that Dumbledore would have a personal conversation with David, but then they turned cold and full of hate at the name of Burbage. He practically spat with venom as he told David.

"That woman has woven her spells of misinformation for far too long. I will deal with her in due course."

He regained his composure and stared intently at David.

"That information is most useful. Once again you have done well. Continue to monitor Dumbledore and the other Professors and ignore the boy Malfoy. He will not succeed in his futile attempt to poison Dumbledore. Do not mention what you saw to any other wizard."

David nodded although he was still confused by Voldemort's wishes.

"I will send you more gold as a reward for your work. Goodbye for the present." He added and disappeared from view.

David sat and gazed at the ball for a while before dropping it onto the bed and staring blankly at the table, where Dusty was busy preening himself.

When he finally came to his senses he felt a sudden surge of guilt at upsetting Susan earlier. As a way of saying sorry, he hastily scribble a note on a scrap of parchment and then tied it to Dusty's leg.

"Do me a favour, boy." He said.

"Take this round to Susan and see if she wants to go and get some dinner."

When David met Susan in the great hall later on, he looked at her sheepishly and said 'sorry'. He had to repeat himself three more times before she broke into a huge grin and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Let's not fall out over something silly." She said.

"We won't do that." He smiled back.

Dinner was a leisurely affair and the two of them made sandwiches with the selection of cold meats and salad that appeared on the table in front of them.

"I bet the house-elves love it at Christmas, when they can take a break from looking after hundreds of students." Said Susan.

"I wonder if any of them go back home to their families?" David mused.

They dined alone that night, as none of the other students or Professors came into the great hall. David was slightly on edge, expecting at any moment to see Malfoy enter and take his place at the Slytherin table.

The rest of the Christmas holidays were spent in much the same fashion. David and Susan would meet up at breakfast, spend the whole day together either reading in the library or playing some game or other in the Hufflepuff common room.

On the final Sunday morning before the new term started, the school Professors began arriving and could be seen here and there about the school. The school caretaker, Argus Filtch also was seen putting up a notice on the main board.

It gave details about apparition lessons that would be starting soon and both David and Susan were extremely excited about the thought of learning how to travel between places in the blink of an eye.

They chattered together about how it was done and David told Susan about how a 'family friend' had taken him to Paris using side-along apparition. She told him about the times that her aunt Amelia had taken her into the Ministry of Magic several times using the same method.

They were eager to begin and when their fellow housemates arrived later that day they told them about the notice on the board. The atmosphere in the common room was palpably energised by this news and the students talked together excitedly late into the night.

The first week of lessons in the new term were taken up with telling each other what they all got up to at Christmas. Hannah Abbot had been taken to Romania by her father and they had spent a long cold Christmas staying with the family of a vampire friend of his.

Hannah hadn't slept much as she was terrified of being visited in the night by one or more of their hosts in bat form. She was safe enough though, because they had taken a plentiful supply of Mrs Ogden's patented 'Bat Repellant' spray and both the rooms and themselves had been doused liberally with it before going to bed.

She had been given a pet bat by the vampire and this now took pride of place on the table at her bedside, but its cage was given a wide berth by any girl passing it by after it had gone dark outside.

Biggins had been nog hunting in Bavaria, along with his cousin Roderick who was a third-year Hufflepuff. Both of them now wore furry scarves to show that they had been successful. Biggins to David that nog's were sausage-shaped creatures about six feet long and with ten legs each. They lived up in the mountains amidst the cracks and caves in the pine forests.

The Boxing Day nog hunt was famous for being both exciting and rewarding. The nogs could run at amazing speed, twisting up and around the trees and so the hunters used broomsticks to chase them. The fur was very valuable as it both kept you warm in winter and cool in the summer.

David wished that he could have gone with Biggins, but he later found out that it was only the richest and stupidest of wizards who hunted nogs for sport. He also was told that Malfoy had been nog hunting on more than one occasion. He even had a set of the bright yellow robes that were worn during the hunt. These were of course necessary to prevent reckless wizards from casting spells willy-nilly at anything that moved.

During one herbology lesson David was daydreaming about flying in and out of the trees when he saw that Harry Potter and his two friends were whispering to each other. He got the urge once again to try and hear what they were saying.

Using the age-old trick of pretending to knock his bucket of puffskein pellets onto the floor, he knelt down and crept around and under the bench to get nearer.

He heard nothing. He wondered if he perhaps he was still to far away to hear properly, so he inched slowly and as quietly as possibly right up to the feet of Harry Potter. He could definitely hear the three students clattering their pots and buckets, but there was no sound of voices.

David had to bite his lip and crunch up his eyes, as the big feet of Ron Weasley stepped to the side and one of them trod right on his fingers. His eyes watered, but he made no sound himself.

The foot soon came off and he saw Ron step far enough backwards for him to get a quick glimpse of his face before he stepped back forwards again.

David was sure that he could see Ron's mouth moving as if he were chatting away, but there was no sound coming out.

He scurried back to his own side of the bench and stood up, holding the pot that he had dropped earlier. He turned to look at Harry Potter and his friends and they each stared back at him. His face turned bright red again.

"Oops." He said.

Hermione Grainger looked at the pot and then spoke directly to David. At least she seemed to. Her mouth moved, but no words came out. She suddenly flushed and looked at the other two, then with a twitch of her wand she turned to David again.

"I'll get those for you." She said, this time loud and clear, but with a bit of a guilty note in her voice.

With a wave of her wand the puffskein pellets rose from the floor and put themselves back into his pot.

"Thanks." Said David.

"Are you having any luck getting your Wolfsbane seeds to sprout?"

Hermione held up a large black seed tray and he could see that there were a dozen or so green shoots sprouting out of the soil inside.

"Luck hasn't anything to do with it." She said and put down the tray.

'No need to be so snooty about it.' David thought to himself and gave her a wan smile.

"Well done." He said half mockingly.

He looked at Harry and Ron who both shrugged their shoulders and rolled their eyes towards Hermione. David knew instantly that it was she who had done all the work and that the two boys had not been able to match her skill.

He puzzled over the reasons why he couldn't hear the three friends talking together, even when he had been so close to them. However, he was brought out of his reverie by Susan who grabbed his arm and yanked him sideways. As he was towed away, he saw Ron and Harry laughing and looking at each other.

"Come and look at Neville's plants." She cooed.

Neville Longbottom had produced a tray bursting to full with strong green shoot poking out from the soil.

"You've got to admire him." She told David and then fluttered her eyes at Neville who grinned appreciatively.

David nodded and wished that there were some way of sneaking a few of Neville's shoots into his own tray.

After that lesson, David kept a keen eye on the three Gryffindor students in class and he soon realised that it was no coincidence that he couldn't overhear what they were saying. During one particular transfiguration lesson he actually saw Ron Weasley wave his wand and speak the incantation 'Muffliato!'. His following words had then been mysteriously quietened and indeed muffled.

David rushed from the lesson and went to the library. In the reference section he took out the enormous copy of 'The Giant Encyclopaedia of Spells and Incantations'. It was the size and shape of a paving slab and almost as heavy too.

Under the 'M' section he found muffliato and read that it was a spell used to hide your conversation from spies and nosey parkers. He slammed the book shut and left it on the table for madam Pince to put back on the shelf.

'So, Harry Potter wants to hide what he is saying to his friends does he?' David thought to himself. 'That is very interesting, but doesn't help me to gather information though'.

It was obvious that he needed to spy on them when they were alone and would think that there was nobody else around to hear them.

At last, the first Saturday in February hailed the beginning of apparition lessons and the great hall was going to be the location.

David followed Susan from the common room and they chatted excitedly about what might happen. Would either of them be able to manage it at the first attempt?

They joined a large group of students who were just as excited and they all looked and stared at the strange little wizard who was in charge of proceedings.

He introduced himself as Wilkie Twycross and began to describe what he would be doing with them in the following twelve weeks leading up to the apparition test.

"Test?" Said David.

"I didn't know there was going to be a test."

He had always been a little nervous about taking exams, especially if he had to perform some task with other people watching.

"Don't worry." Susan said soothingly.

"He only means a test to see that you can do it properly. You don't have to write anything down."

David breathed a sigh of relief.

"As you may know, it is usually impossible to apparate or disapparate within Hogwarts.." Twycross told the students.

David was surprised at this news and thought that it might be an unexpected piece of information his Master might not be aware of.

The apparition lessons were to be overseen by the heads of house, as well as Twycross. They chivvied the students into place as wooden hoops appeared in front of them. The students were expected to try to apparate into the hoops from where they stood.

Following Twycross' instructions of 'destination, determination, deliberation', they all tried their best to move through invisible space. David's attempt was as bad as everyone else's and he laughed when he saw several people fall over.

Susan giggled when Biggins fell face first into his hoop and sat there looking both dazed and disappointed. They tried the same routine a couple more times and didn't get anywhere, though Susan said that she thought she felt a real tingle inside her and a 'sort of' movement.

"I'm going to do it this time, I can really feel it." She said and prepared to apparate.

As David stood and watched, Susan gathered herself together and with the grace of a ballerina she slowly but deliberately turned on the spot.

In an instant, she disappeared from where she had been. There was a 'crack'-ing sound and she re-appeared inside the hoop in front of her. But almost just as quickly she screamed in shock and David gasped in terror as he saw that her left leg was still standing from where she had apparated.

With a horrible sound, it fell over and landed on the floor beside David. He was paralysed with the horror of it and could only stand and stare as Professor Sprout whirled her wand at Susan and shouted.

"**Conrumpo!**"

There was a loud 'bang' and the air was filled with purple smoke. Twycross and the other heads of house raced over and cast other spells and as the air cleared David saw Susan standing back beside him, with her leg back in place.

She swooned and David caught her as she fell.

"Give her some space. Don't crowd her." Professor Sprout said with a shaky voice.

"Are you alright, dear?" She asked Susan and patted her gently on the cheek.

Susan's eyes fluttered and she feebly moaned.

"I.. I think so, Professor."

But it was obvious that she was in no fit state to carry on with the lessons. David too was too shaken to continue, so he helped Madam Pomfrey to take Susan up to the hospital wing. The school nurse had been watching proceedings from the side of the hall, waiting for such an occurrence.

Madam Pomfrey fussed over Susan and she was given a big comfortable armchair to sit in and recover. A hot mug of sweet mallow tea was also prescribed and Susan sat sipping it and giving a little shudder now and again.

David also accepted a cup of tea, but he preferred to stand beside Susan. The nurse was satisfied enough to leave them alone, saying that she would come back later to check on them. Meanwhile, she had to return to the great hall to watch over the other students.

"How are you feeling now?" David asked Susan and he gently stroked her hair.

She looked up at him and smiled weakly.

"I'll survive." She managed.

"Good." He replied.

"Do you think you will have another go next time?"

"Yeah, just make sure that you catch my leg before it hits the floor next time. Look, I've got a bruise on my knee!"

She lifted the hem of her robe to show him a round purple bump and they both laughed.

"They say that laughter is the best medicine." Said a voice from behind them.

They both looked around to see the headmaster Albus Dumbledore standing there and beaming broadly.

"When I was your age and was also learning to apparate, a good friend of mine had the misfortune to lose both of his legs in the same way that you did. The school nurse at that time was a rather old and befuddled witch by the name of Merrill MacDuff." He continued, with a twinkle in his eye.

"There was of course a terrible rumpus and in the confusion Madam MacDuff accidentally replaced his legs on the wrong sides and the wrong way around."

David and Susan looked at each other and grinned.

"I hope that Madam Pomfrey has replaced everything in its right and proper place?" He smiled at Susan.

"Yes, thank you sir. Lucky for me it was just the one leg."

The headmaster chuckled and raised his spectacles to take a closer look. He saw the bruise and immediately gave a quick flick of his wand. A small pot of yellow paste appeared before them and Dumbledore asked Susan to take a little and to rub it on the bruise. Susan lowered her robes and thanked the headmaster again.

"Now that I am happy that everything is as it was, I thought that as a special treat you might both like to come up to my study and to say 'hello' to Fawkes. Just a little something to take your minds away from this unfortunate incident."

Dumbledore looked at them both with his eyebrows raised and a sheepish look on his face. The two friends gave one look at each other and Susan jumped straight up.

"Yes please!" They chorused.

The two of them whispered excitedly to each other as they followed in the wake of Dumbledore, who strode before them in his magnificent set of sweeping deep blue robes.

They eventually reach an ugly statue standing before a section of wall in the corridor, where Dumbledore intoned.

"Acid Pops!"

The gargoyle came to life and sprang aside, as the wall behind split open to reveal a moving spiral staircase. They all stepped onto the stairs and were taken upwards. At the top there was a wooden door that Dumbledore unlocked with a wave of his wand.

They walked through and both David and Susan looked around in awe. There was a myriad of mechanical devices and interesting glass objects lining the room, sitting on shelves and tables.

David gulped in disbelief. He never really thought that he would get access to the inside of Dumbledore's office and he tried to hold in his excitement of the thought of telling his Master all about it.

He made a conscious effort to memorise everything in the room, so that he could describe it without even knowing what it might be. He also tucked away the little matter of the secret password that Dumbledore had used to get to the staircase.

"Here we are." Said Dumbledore to them and beckoned them over to a golden perch with a red coloured ball of feathers on top.

The two students peered up at it in a reverend silence. Fawkes was perched curled up with his head under his wing. He was a shimmering red colour with golden feather trims.

He opened one tired eye and glanced at them, then with a sudden perk he stood up erectly and stretched out his wings and tail.

"Show off!" Said Dumbledore and gazed lovingly at him.

"He always likes to put on a show for students." He chuckled.

Dumbledore then went on to tell them about phoenix habits and their amazing magical powers. He also talked about the theory of familiars, but David and Susan were too engaged in watching Fawkes preening and primping himself to take much notice.

Dumbledore then held out his hand and offered Susan what seemed an empty palm.

"Professor?" She asked.

"Take it. Take it." He said and prompted her again.

She put her hand over his palm and then blinked in surprise. She put together her thumb and forefinger and picked up something invisible and delicate.

"Put it down on the table and see." He said.

Susan did as he asked and was amazed to see a bright red phoenix feather appear as she let go of it.

"The feathers of a bird familiar turn invisible when touched by the human hand. Most fascinating." Dumbledore purred.

"Have you come across this characteristic before?" He asked David.

"Yes sir, I have." He replied.

"My own wand has a familiar's feather in the core."

"Ahh, wonderful!" Dumbledore exclaimed.

"I have studied these wonderful creatures for many years, but there is still so much that remains unknown to wizardkind. You and I are members of a very exclusive club and I am honoured to meet you." He said and bowed low to David.

David was gobsmacked and could only blush with embarrassment. Dumbledore smiled with a look of understanding.

At that moment Susan spoke up.

"Is that the sorting hat, sir?"

She pointed at a dusty mound on a shelf nearby. Dumbledore smiled and said.

"Yes. That's where it lives for most of the time. It only gets used at the beginning of the school year. I occasionally put it on myself and keep it up to date with the goings-on in the outside world."

David looked at the hat and said.

"We use a hood and cloak at Beauxbatons. I was sorted into Sournois house."

"Did you have to use the sorting hat to get into Hufflepuff?" Susan asked David.

"No. I was just told to come here by Professor McGonagall."

"Perhaps you'd like to try on the hat and see where you would have been put if you were a Hogwarts first-year student?" Said Dumbledore.

"Although I think I could make a good guess."

David shrugged his shoulders and agreed. He sat down on a chair and Dumbledore took the hat and placed it on David's head. David looked up and waited.

There was a moment's silence before the hat twitched on David's head and suddenly said out loud.

"Ohh, sorry. I was asleep. Was there something that you wanted?"

They all laughed and Dumbledore told the hat what they wanted. It took a few seconds to think about it and then said.

"Ravenclaw!"

"Of course." Said Dumbledore and took off the hat and put it back on the shelf.

Susan let out a groan and put her hand on David's shoulder.

"He won't have to move into the Ravenclaw common room will he?" She asked Dumbledore nervously.

"No. It's a little too late for that, I think. And the hat is only a guide after all. It does seem a pretty obvious choice thought, doesn't it?" He said to David.

David thought about it and replied.

"Yes, I suppose so. After all, my familiar is a raven and the animal on the Ravenclaw badge is a bird."

Susan seemed crestfallen at this, but David reassured her.

"Don't worry, Sue. I won't try to sabotage the Hufflepuff quidditch team."

She punched him playfully and grinned.

"Thanks Daffers."

Dumbledore looked at the pair of them approvingly and chuckled.

"There is, however, the small mistake that the bird on the Ravenclaw shield is actually an eagle."

"Of course!" Exclaimed Susan.

"Whatever was I thinking?"

"I merely meant that it would be the usual case for a first-class student to be sorted into Ravenclaw house. The fact that the name has the word 'raven' as a part of it is purely coincidental."

The two friends looked at each other and grinned.

"At the risk of sounding a little boastful, I can let you know that I was indeed myself sorted into Ravenclaw house when I first arrived at Hogwarts."

"Easiest decision I ever had to make." Came the voice of the hat from the shelf.

"Well, I hope that you found this little excursion both illuminating and interesting." Dumbledore said and held out his arms to indicate the way back out of his study.

They took this as a sign that their visit was over and with a tinge of regret they thanked Dumbledore profusely. Susan picked up the feather, which disappeared again, and they made their way back to the great hall.

By this time the hall was back in its usual configuration of tables for each house, the apparition lessons having finished earlier. They held hands and sat down at the Hufflepuff table. They were now so hungry after all the excitement of the day, that they just sat and waited for half an hour until it was time for dinner to arrive.

Everyone crowded around Susan and asked her how she was and if it had hurt when she got splinched. She loved the sudden attention and the short-lived fame that she achieved that day and made the most of it. Anyone who asked was given a full account of what happened and even further report of her visit to Dumbledore's study.

David merely sat by and watched Susan sitting there and enjoying herself. He thought how strange it was that such a horrible incident should turn into such a wonderful experience for her.

He had never seen her looking so happy and it suddenly struck him how lucky he was to be there with her at Hogwarts. He had never been so happy. He had a home, he had friends and he even had a girlfriend who liked him as much as he liked her.

He also had a lot more useful information that would please his Master.

David grinned inwardly and it was some time before he realised that Susan was looking at him with a quizzical smile.

A Fright in the Dark

David continued with his studies throughout February and he worked alongside Susan, who also kept him company at night in the Hufflepuff common room. On Tuesday evenings the Hufflepuff quidditch team practiced down at the pitch and this provided David with the perfect excuse to be out of sight of Susan and to do a little poking around in the castle.

Susan liked to watch the quidditch matches, but she wasn't so keen on going out in the cold just to watch the team practice. David took the opportunity and resolved to hide somewhere quiet in the stadium and to enter Dusty for a night-time flight.

There was an upcoming match against Gryffindor and the team needed to get in all the practice that they could, so David told Susan that he was going to watch and she was much happier to stay in the warm castle.

That night he went out with the team and their followers-on and with Dusty dancing excitedly on his shoulder, he dodged off to one side as they went inside the quidditch stadium.

The inside of the stadium was brightly lit with lamps around the top edges of the stands. The goal hoops also glowed eerily green. It was certainly light enough to see the quaffle and bludgers, but David guessed that the golden snitch would be practically impossible to see under the artificial sunlight.

With a thrill of anticipation he walked around the outside of the building until he came across a door that was unlocked when he tried the handle. Through the door was a dark space that looked like some sort of storeroom.

David went inside and put a locking spell on the door. He then lay down and without further ado he closed his eyes and performed the incantation inside his head that would take him into Dusty's body.

It only took a moment for him to realise that he could no longer get out of the room, so he had to return to his own body and unlock the door. He then opened it wide enough for Dusty to sneak through and entered the bird for a second time.

He hopped through the door and took a quick look around to make sure that there was nobody around to see him. It then struck him that he might have been able to leave Dusty outside the door and to lock it from the inside before entering him.

He stood for a moment debating whether or not he should risk leaving the door open and with his inert body lying on the floor inside. He decided that he would take the risk this time.

He lifted from the ground and headed up towards the castle. His intention was to take a peek through one of the windows of the tower where he now knew that the Gryffindor common room was located.

He soared over the school grounds and revelled in the freedom that flying allowed him, but made sure that he took a wide berth around the whomping willow that stood between the stadium and his route towards the school. The tower that he was looking for was high on one corner of the castle. He flew from window to window, peering in at the occupants.

He had a sudden jolt of fear at the thought that he might be seen, but he thought about it and decided that it was unlikely that anyone would be looking out of a window into the darkness. It was a dark night and he was a black bird, so even if anyone were to glance out of a window they would not be able to make him out.

He passed alongside the highest level of windows and could make out a few people inside the ones whose curtains weren't shut. His eye was caught by a pair of French doors on the level below that opened up onto a small balcony.

David swooped down and landed on the edge of the balcony and looked in through the doors. Inside he could see a large room with a dining table set in the middle. Sitting at the head of the table and tucking into a plateful of food was Horace Slughorn. Around him were around a dozen students, the only one of whom he could make out was Ginny Weasley. He recognised her shining head of red hair and sat beside her was the bushy-haired Hermione Grainger.

He could see that Slughorn was relating some story or other to them and that they were all amused at one point. There was obvious laughter and clapping from the students and Slughorn looked around happily.

Wishing that he could have stayed and watched the party a little more, David took off and flew upwards towards the corner of the castle. There were many turrets and towers on the roof, at the corners and in the middle. He went to the one that he thought was the Gryffindor tower and spiralled up and around it, peering sideways.

He knew that the tower entrance was on the seventh floor and he was already above that. The first row of windows was indeed those of the Gryffindor common room. Above them were a few smaller windows that showed stone steps inside that led upwards and above these the main tower ended and it became divided into two smaller towers at the very top of the castle.

He guessed correctly that those two towers were the girls and boys dormitories of the Gryffindor students. Seven levels of windows indicated the bedrooms of the students of different years.

He didn't want to waste time trying to find Harry Potter's dormitory, so he concentrated on finding the window with the best view inside the common room.

One complete circuit of the tower revealed that only two windows didn't have closed curtains or furniture in the way, so David perched himself on the one that was to the side of the fireplace and behind the sofas facing towards it.

There were plenty of students inside. Some were playing games of various sorts and others were reading books, chatting together, or just practicing wand movements.

David again spotted the flaming red hair of another Weasley. It was Ron and he was playing a game of wizard's chess with Harry Potter. He could also see Colin and Dennis Creavey sitting nearby and whispering to each other.

There was a sense of satisfaction that he had managed to spy upon Harry Potter, but the fact that he was doing something so mundane was disappointing.

He then remembered that he also had wanted to check the seventh floor corridor again, where he had seen Draco Malfoy entering the secret room.

He wasn't disappointed this time and he grinned inside with satisfaction as he looked in through the corridor window and saw two girls standing sulkily at each end.

'He's in there again.' Thought David. He had forgotten to tell Voldemort about this part of Malfoy's behaviour, but now that he had been told by his Master to ignore him, he was torn between his orders and his own curiosity.

'I'll just keep an eye on him for myself.' He decided.

All the flying had given David a bit of an appetite and he made his way back towards the quidditch stadium.

Just as he was getting near, there was a terrifying screech above his head and something huge banged against his body. He just enough sense to roll sideways away from it and to his horror he saw that an enormous beaked head had tried to grab him.

His heart raced and blood rushed to his head as he raced downwards to get away from the creature. He could now see that it was some kind of giant bird like an eagle, but the size of it was incredible. It was as big as a horse and in fact had the body of one.

He swerved this way and that to try to get away, but it was as fast as he was. His only chance was to keep dodging, as it was not as manoeuvrable. He was almost crying with fear.

Just as he was beginning to give up, he heard a shrill whistling sound coming from the direction of Hagrid's hut and at that sound the bird-creature banked away and disappeared into the gloom.

Tears filled his eyes as he swooped down into the room that held his body and he performed the counter-spell to return him to his body.

He lay there in a cold sweat and trembled at the thought of what had just happened. It was a long while before he had the courage to peep around the door to see if the thing was still flying around outside.

When he was sure that the coast was clear, he placed Dusty on his shoulder and dashed out towards the entrance to the stadium. The team practice was still going on inside so David sat down quietly behind the watchers, breathing a huge sigh of relief.

When the practice was over, he went back to the common room with the others, picking up a few ham sandwiches along the way and a mug of hot cocoa from the great hall supper table.

Alone in his room later, he vowed to be more careful when he was out and about inside Dusty. Meanwhile, Dusty sat at his usual perch on the back of the armchair and glared at David.

A few days after his close encounter, during a Care of Magical Creatures lesson David asked Hagrid what sort of creatures lived in around the forest. Hagrid told him about the centaurs, unicorns, spiders and thestrals. Most of the class knew all about these larger animals, but few of them had heard about the giant arachnids.

It was then that David learned that the creature that had attacked him was probably a hippogriff. The description that Hagrid gave him of his own favourite, Witherwings, was enough to convince David and to reinforce his decision to avoid flying at night in the forest at all costs.

The lesson that day was concerned with mythological creatures that featured in ancient muggle fables from Egypt and Greece.

They were given long descriptions of sphinxes, harpies and chimaera. Hagrid seemed to have an incredible amount of knowledge on the subject. Finally, he surprised them all with a visit to a giant three-headed dog that was kept in a kennel not too far into the forest.

The students gaped with awe at the beast, as it pulled on its chain and barked alarmingly at then.

"Don' worry." Said Hagrid.

"He's harmless really. Just a big softie, aren't you boy?" He continued and going over to the animal, he tickled it under two of its chins.

Unbelievably, it rolled over onto its back and allowed Hagrid to tickle its belly and ruffle the middle head. One of his hind legs jerked involuntarily with pleasure at the attention he was receiving.

Hagrid asked whether any of the students would like to take a turn, but there were no takers of his offer.

It was a most unusual lesson and David wondered to himself about how many other creatures that muggles didn't know about were roaming around the world. He didn't know if he should feel amazed that the creatures existed, or shocked that the majority of the population was ignorant of the dangers lurking in the dark places of the world.

"Sir, why do muggles not know about these animals?" He asked Hagrid.

"Good question, that." He replied.

"The Ministry o' Magic has a group of people called the Department fer the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. They issue permits to let wizards keep the useful ones as pets and make sure tha' the dangerous ones stay in reservation areas around the country."

"But what happens if one of them gets out of the reservation?" David continued.

"Well, that 'appens every now and again." Hagrid chuckled.

"Then the muggles have to have their memories erased, if they saw 'em."

David thought that this sounded a bit hit-and-miss and he thought about how stories about things like the Loch Ness monster must have started.

"Right." Said Hagrid.

"Since none of yer would 'shake a paw' with Fluffy, yer can all give me a foot of parchment on the care of ancient magical creatures. That's yer homework. To be handed in by Monday."

They all groaned and made their way back to Hagrid's hut.

More Mysteries

David enjoyed his Care of Magical Creatures lessons more than any others. It always niggled him that he wanted a pet of his own but had never been allowed by any of the foster parents he had lived with.

Dusty was not the kind of pet that he had imagined owning. He looked after himself and David hardly had to do anything for him. There was a small bowl of water that was left on the bedside cabinet, but Dusty rarely drank from it, much preferring the fresh water from puddles outside.

He was also a very clean and shiny bird, so David couldn't even give him a brush. The nice thing about him was that he was always there and interested in what David was doing, whether it be practicing spells on the objects in his bedroom or just doing his homework.

Dusty would hop onto the table where David was working and peck playfully at the quill that David was using.

At times, David would sit and watch Dusty preening himself and wonder what was going through the mind of the strange creature. Why did it choose to attach itself to him? What did it get from this relationship? And did it really mind when David entered its body and risked its life by flying around willy-nilly?

David stroked Dusty's dark grey beak. It felt warm.

The rest of the month passed quickly at Hogwarts and David continued with his apparition lessons and even began to get the hang of it. He still hadn't managed his first leap into the practice hoop, even after four lessons. Susan had not managed to do it either.

She hadn't been too traumatised by her earlier splinching, though she admitted to being very nervous at her next attempt. She knew that she wasn't being determined enough to apparate successfully.

It was a sign of their friendship that she was able to tell David about her fears and that he encouraged her to focus on the task and ignore any of her past failures.

"At least you're managing to keep all of your legs on nowadays." Laughed David during one of their lessons.

Susan got her revenge by casting a quick 'swapping' hex on David's shoes and he spent the rest of the lesson and most of the day wondering why his feet were hurting. His right and left shoes were each on the wrong foot.

Susan let David know during the evening meal and everyone on the Hufflepuff table was in stitches.

"Never tangle with a Hufflepuff witch." Grinned Biggins and he ruffled David's hair.

David banged his head on the table and laughed along with the others. The fat friar ghost shook his head and guffawed.

"I hope you are enjoying your time here at Hogwarts, young sir." Said the portly ghost to David.

David looked at him in surprise. He had never had a conversation with a ghost before and was unsure what he could say that would not be offensive.

"Yes, thank you. How long have you been a ghost here?" He asked.

"Ohh too long, you know. Almost four hundred years now."

"Four hundred years!" Exclaimed David.

He couldn't imagine anyone being so old.

"I used to haunt an old priory on the West coast of Scotland, after my death. I choked to death on a bone from a particularly delicious roast chicken. It was a real shame because there was rhubarb crumble for afterwards."

David goggled at the fat friar and listened to the story.

"Then I heard that a vacancy had come up here at the school and I applied for it. I had been a Hufflepuff student myself during my time here at Hogwarts."

"What happened to the ghost whose job you took over?" Asked David.

"Well." Said the fat friar and puffed himself up.

"The mad highlander who was ghost of Hufflepuff house before me got an offer to haunt one of the royal residences. He couldn't turn it down, so I've been performing the duties here ever since."

David smiled and said.

"Cool. You're a really impressive ghost. The best I've ever met."

The fat friar beamed appreciatively and then floated off to chat with some of the younger students at the far end of the table.

At that moment a large brown owl swooped down over David and dropped a small parcel into his lap. David jumped in shock and looked down to find that it was addressed to him.

Susan was busy talking now with Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan, so David quietly got up and headed back to his room. Once there he leapt onto the bed and cut the strings to open up the parcel.

The brown wrapping paper came off to reveal another layer underneath. This was an old newspaper and David unfolded it carefully. Inside was a card with a picture of a quidditch team flying and passing a quaffle between themselves.

A memory told David that the team was from the French league and that they had been Davide's favourite. They were 'Les Invincibles de Lyon'.

Along with the card was a small wooden box. David opened the card up first and read the contents. Once again it was written in French.

_**Hey there Daffers.**_

_**Happy Birthday from your old friend.**_

_**I know it's a little early, but I saw this gift and knew you would love it.**_

_**How are things going there? I'm still waiting for a good long letter from you.**_

_**Tell me, what are the girls like at Hogwarts? Have you got your eye on anyone cute yet?**_

_**Have a great time. We'll soon get back together in the summer.**_

_**Best wishes from Jonkers.**_

_**Allez Les Invincibles!**_

David smiled and picked up the box. It rattled when he shook it. He undid the brass clasp and opened it up. Inside was a silver badge in the shape of a shield, with black and yellow enamel letters on it. They were the initials of the quidditch team, 'LIL'.

'Cool!' Thought David and immediately he pinned it on the front of his school robes.

"What do you think, Dusty?" He called over to the raven.

Dusty 'caw-ed' back appreciatively. He liked shiny objects and the badge shone in the light from the lamps in the room.

David lay back on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. He had forgotten that Davide's birthday was on the first of March. He got up on one arm and looked at the newspaper on which he had dropped the wooden box.

With a thrill of horror, David saw a photograph of his foster-parents, the two Beaneys. It was accompanied with a headline that read.

'**British couple found dead – son missing'**

The photograph had been taken by David during their visit to France, before the car accident. It was a muggle picture and the occupants were motionless.

The story under the headline told of hospital staff finding the bodies of the Beaneys along with a doctor and nurse. They showed no signs of injury, but they were all dead. The foster-son of the couple was missing from his bed and police were working on the assumption that he had been taken by someone.

There was an ongoing murder inquiry into the deaths and disappearance, but at the moment there were no clues or motive available.

David's blood ran cold. Voldemort had killed William and Sarah, out in the corridor while he himself lay in the hospital bed. The flash of green light must have been made by a spell being cast. The 'killing' curse, avada kedavra.

There could be no denying now that the Dark Lord was a dangerous man and David was now scared that he might become angry if he did not receive more information about Dumbledore and Potter.

What he gotten himself into? He had taken the gifts from Voldemort without question and offered his services in return. Typical of him to jump in feet-first without thinking of the consequences.

These were the thoughts running through his head, but he was powerless to do anything about the situation at the moment.

'The Dark Lord could have killed me at any time but he didn't, so he must like me.' He told himself.

It was easier to hang onto this thought rather than any other and so David fell asleep and had a rather restless night filled with dark dreams.

When he awoke in the morning, his first action was to place the newspaper in his water basin and cast a curse on it that caused it to burst into flames. He didn't want any evidence left behind for anyone to see.

He brushed his teeth and washed away the ashes of the newspaper, then as he went down for breakfast he wondered to himself if the story had made the papers here in Britain. If a picture of the 'missing' David were published, then he would be found out as being an impostor straight away.

He ate his breakfast in silence and cast a few nervous glances up at the staff table where Dumbledore was tucking into a bowl of porridge.

Susan noticed the change in David's mood and she snuggled up to him.

"You're not mad at me are you, for the other night?" She asked.

"Course not. Just a little homesick, that's all." He lied.

She tickled the back of his head and he gave in to her charms and began to laugh.

"What do you fancy doing today?" She asked.

"Well, I was thinking about doing a little bit of self-defence practice. I haven't done it for a while now." Said David.

"Cool, we can find somewhere quiet to do it together and see if we can teach each other anything." Said Susan and jumped up, pulling David after her.

They made their way back to the Hufflepuff common room and David went to collect his stinging snitch.

Susan couldn't see any reason why they shouldn't practice in the room of requirement, where Dumbledore's Army had done so the previous year. So she led David up the staircases to the seventh floor corridor.

When they got there they found a young girl waiting near to the place where the hidden door would appear for users to enter the room. As they approached she dropped a set of scales that she was holding and bolted out of sight around the corner. The scales made a loud clanging noise that echoed from one end to the other.

Grinning at each other they set the scales upright on the floor and looked at the empty wall.

"This is where the hidden room is." Explained Susan.

"We have to walk up and down and think about finding a place to practice in. The door should appear after a few goes."

"Ahh." Exclaimed David.

"That explains what he was doing." He said and then added quickly.

"I mean, that's what we're doing."

He had remembered seeing Malfoy pacing up and down here and the door had appeared before him.

They did as Susan had said, but after several tries nothing was happening.

"That's funny." She said.

"It used to appear almost straight away last year. I wonder if it was sealed by that Umbridge woman after she caught us all coming out of there?"

David didn't know what she meant, but it was obvious that the door wasn't going to appear in a hurry. He was almost going to mention that he had seen Malfoy using the door recently, but then remembered that he shouldn't mention it to anyone.

"Let's just find an empty classroom instead." He suggested and Susan agreed.

They went down a couple of levels and tried a few doors until one opened for them. It was a small room, but there weren't many desks in it. With a flick of her wand and a cry of _**'Motum!**_'', Susan got the desks to arrange themselves around the edge of the classroom.

David explained the use of the stinging snitch to Susan and she stood to one side as he demonstrated for her. He was a little rusty at first and got a couple of hexes on the body before he began to settle down and move more fluidly.

Susan had laughed when David had yelped at being stung, but then began to 'Ooh' and 'Ahh' as he spun and rolled to avoid being hit.

"Fantastic!" She cried, as David cart-wheeled through the air and hit the snitch with a stunning spell that sent it reeling against the wall.

David grinned and walked over to her, breathing heavily with the efforts he had made.

"I've never seen anything like it." She coo-ed at him.

"Is that what they teach you at Beauxbatons?"

"It takes a lot of practice." He replied.

Susan had a go herself and got stung several times before David said.

"Let's give the snitch a miss for the time being and just practice against each other."

They stood facing each other at a distance of six or seven metres and began to hurl simple hexes at each other. David could avoid Susan's spells quite easily using his quick movements, but Susan preferred to use shield charms to avoid being hit.

"Wow, you know how to use some pretty awesome shield charms." He told her.

"Trying to hit you is like trying to hit a jumping jack." She said.

They then spent the rest of the afternoon showing each other the spells and defensive movements that they had learned. The partnership was perfect. David showed Susan how to avoid oncoming jinxes – they seemed to move more slowly through the air than hexes and curses. Susan taught David three new charms to deflect or counteract most spells.

That evening they were both ravenous and ate third helpings of dinner, chatting about how the training had gone that day. They agreed to continue the training each weekend, as both an exercise and for them to have more time alone with each other.

The following day, the school was alive with the news that Harry Potter's friend, Ron Weasley, had been taken to the hospital wing after being poisoned by Professor Slughorn in his room.

Everyone was talking about it, but no-one knew the real story. David thought about maybe paying a visit to the hospital room where Ron Weasley was staying, to see if he could find out anything for himself.

He was taking a risk by flying at night in Dusty, but he believed that he would be safe if he stayed close to the castle walls. So, he left Susan and the other Hufflepuffs in the common room and told them that he needed an early night. Susan humphed a little, but she gave him a peck on the cheek and said she'd see him in the morning.

Dusty stood at the end of the bed, as David lay down and chanted the incantation inside his head. Once he had made the transition into Dusty, he slipped outside through the open window.

It was just after eight and getting a little cold. There were plenty of windows throwing out fingers of yellow light and it was easy for David to find his way along the side of the building and to locate the hospital wing.

The lights were on, but the curtains were all closed. David flitted along from window ledge to window ledge until he found a crack through which he could see inside. There was only one occupied bed and it was across the room from where he was watching.

Ron Weasley was lying in the bed, seemingly asleep and gathered around the bedside were Potter, Grainger, Ginny Weasley and Hagrid. There was also a pair of almost identical looking young men with flaming red hair. There was no way to hear what was being said, but it was obvious that they were all distressed at seeing Ron.

He wasn't dead. There was no way that Madam Pomfrey would allow people to come and look at a dead body, so David assumed that Ron was just asleep or unconscious.

David watched, intrigued by the friendship that there must have been between the three friends and then he wondered who might come and visit him if he were ever that ill himself.

Before too long, a group of other people arrived and since they were adults that David had never seen before, he guessed correctly that they were Ron's parents.

Meanwhile, the others had left the room and headed out into the corridor, leaving the family alone with Ron.

David flew sideways and caught up with the group who had stopped and were still talking together. Up against the window David clearly heard Harry Potter shout 'Hagrid, why is Dumbledore angry with Snape'.

He held his breath and tried to keep as silent as possible and catch anything else that might be said. But, Hagrid had 'shushed' Harry and the group started to move on. They were still talking animatedly, but David couldn't catch a word of it.

He was fluttering and almost banging against the corridor windows and he realised that he might be heard or seen himself.

Annoyed at his bad luck and cursing the thickness of the glass in the windows, David's last view of the group was to see them bump into the school caretaker. Feeling that his luck might run out soon, he soared back down to his room and re-entered his own body.

'So', thought David. 'Dumbledore is angry with Professor Snape, the Potions Master. I wonder what that could be about?'

These last few Days had been very interesting for David and things continued in much the same way during the week.

The Care of Magical Creatures lessons had been very boring for several weeks and Hagrid had set them the task of looking after a fire salamander. They had each been given a salamander egg that Hagrid had been keeping in the fireplace in his hut.

A large bonfire had then been lit at the edge of the forest and they had placed their eggs in it, but towards the outside where they could turn them over and over with long sticks.

The fire had been going for three whole weeks before the eggs had hatched and a group of little lizards had crawled out. These were now about six inches in length and were scurrying here and there in the bonfire. Nobody had a clue as to which was their own salamander because they all looked more or less the same, with bright yellow and orange camouflage.

David had noticed that Hagrid had begun each lesson with them, but then when everyone was busy with the task he had sneaked off into the forest. Each time he had returned looking very upset and had dismissed the class, so David was eager to find out where Hagrid was going and what he was up to.

His plan was to feign illness again and to take the day off and stay in his room. At least, his body would stay in his room while his mind took a flight inside Dusty again.

This he did and while his classmates took their Care of Magical Creatures lesson, David flew out of his room and into the bright sunlight of a Spring day.

Taking care to look out for potential flying dangers, he settled himself up in the treetops above the class and watched as the students grabbed their sticks and began poking around in the bonfire below.

The rising smoke and dust from the fire began to irritate his lungs and he was glad when he saw Hagrid stomping off into the forest.

Keeping an eye out as best he could, he flitted silently between the branches of the trees. He tried to keep as high as possible, but not to lose sight of Hagrid in the gloom of the dense foliage.

The trees seemed to grow higher and higher, the further they went into the forest, but he found it to be no problem. Hagrid was so intent on where he was going that he paid no attention to anything above him.

David didn't find it strange that there seemed to be few other birds around, he was just glad that nothing was trying to attack him again. He couldn't get the thought of the huge flying creature out of his mind.

After fifteen minutes or so, Hagrid stopped at the foot of a small mound and David perched in a position to watch what was happening.

To his utter amazement the mound moved and then stood up to reveal a giant-sized man twice as big as Hagrid, who was a very tall person himself. He could just about hear Hagrid talking to the thing and he watched as he handed over a package.

It turned out to be food and drink of some sort. The giant took the package, opened it and then began eating the contents. When he had finished he patted Hagrid on the head and they gave each other a hug, before Hagrid moved off further into the gloom.

David followed as best he could, but his way was becoming blocked here and there by large spider's webs.

Eventually, Hagrid stopped at the entrance to a large cave at the centre of a basin in the ground. He called out and after a minute, a massive hairy black beast crawled slowly out of the entrance. It was a spider the size of a minibus.

David held back a cry of terror and disgust and stared in horror as Hagrid began to converse with the creature. He even went up to it and stroked one of its long legs.

The feathers on the back of David's neck were raised in a thrill of fear at this strange scene. Then a sudden creaking noise behind him made him look around and he saw a fat spider dropping down onto the branch behind him.

Without a moment's thought, David hurled himself backwards from the branch and then flew directly upwards towards the light of day. He had seen enough and just wanted to get back to the safety of his room.

What on earth did Hagrid think he was doing with a creature like that? David had a sudden horrible thought that this was going to be one of the next creatures to be studied in their lessons. With a shiver, he hurried back into his own body.

He thought that he seen just about everything at Hogwarts, apart from the centaur that he knew taught some lessons there, but this was something else.

Would the Dark Lord be interested in something like this though? David would tell him anyway, just in case it was something again that the Dark Lord could use to his advantage.

But first he had to dig up some more information about Dumbledore and Harry Potter.

Quidditch and Questions

It wasn't long before everyone's thoughts turned to the forthcoming quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. David was itching to have a go at playing himself and he asked Biggins if there was any chance that he could get involved somehow. Biggins made a few enquiries and it was arranged that he and a few other Hufflepuffs could go to training one night and make up a team for them to practice against.

David was overjoyed and on the day in question, he could hardly sit still as the butterflies danced around in his stomach.

That night he and Susan made their way with the other Hufflepuffs, to the quidditch stadium. David had borrowed a set of robes from Biggins, who had once played as a beater for the team but could no longer fit into them.

Madam Hooch had also allowed him to borrow one of the school brooms, a comet seventy. David had not flown a broom in real life, but his memory of flying as Davide were vivid in his mind and he had no fear or worries about getting it off the ground.

Susan left him to go and sit in the stands, but gave him a little peck on the cheek for luck first.

With trembling hands, David gripped the broom at its end and threw a leg over the steel. Then, without thought or hesitation he kicked off from the ground and zoomed into the air.

The feeling of freedom and speed was completely exhilarating. It was nothing like flying as a bird. Whenever he was inside Dusty, it was as if he were the passenger inside an unusual airplane. Here, he was in command of the whole situation.

He swooped around and looked down at the seven team players gathered at one end of the pitch, then at the six other players hovering around the other end.

With a whoop of joy, he leant forward and sped towards them, pulling out of the dive at the last moment and coming to a dead stop.

Ernie MacMillan was in charge of the players and he gave each one of them a position to play. Ernie was the reserve seeker for the real Hufflepuff team, so he would play that role. It would also give him the chance to observe the players and to report back to his captain if any of them might be good enough to try out for the team in the future.

"I was going to put you in as keeper, David." He said.

"But after watching you fly just now, I think I'll have you as a chaser. You take the left-hand position, Madge go central and Toby go right." David nodded and a boy and girl, both older-looking than him, stepped forward.

The three of them shook hands and then shot into the air, stopping somewhere towards the centre of the pitch. They arranged themselves into as straight a line as they could, spaced out by twenty feet or so and at a height of about the same.

David turned and looked at Ernie, who pointed at the other players in turn and they each took up their allotted position. In front of him, the seven members of the real team were already in position and looking eager to begin.

The Hufflepuff captain was Zacharias Smith and he played in the centre of the three chasers. He edged forwards towards Madge, who looked at him with trepidation. Ernie threw up the quaffle and the game began.

Smith grabbed the quaffle and immediately threw it sideways to Cadwallader. He took off towards David, who turned to his left and forced the player to his outside. It was a good piece of blocking, but a speeding bludger aimed at David's body forced him to pull up quickly and Cadwallader threw the quaffle back to Smith.

It was obvious that the beaters on David's side were not very good, so Smith had no difficulty in flying straight towards the goal and scoring past what was also a hapless keeper.

The game continued for the rest of the hour in much the same manner. David's team-mates were obviously poor fliers and he found himself chasing his opponents more than the quaffle.

He did his best to protect the left hand side of the pitch and on the one occasion that he managed to receive a pass from Madge, he had swerved past two chasers and a beater only to see his throw at goal saved by the keeper.

"Good swerving, mate" Said Cadwallader and gave David a 'high five'.

David was having the time of his life, not caring that his team was getting flattened. He was just happy to be on a broomstick and to be putting in a pretty good performance.

The final score was four hundred and twenty to ten. In the last minute the opponents had let Madge fly past them all and throw the quaffle into an open goal. She had almost missed even then. The quaffle had hit the hoop itself, but had luckily bounced through.

There was laughing and joking as they made their way back to the castle. Zacharias was brimming with pleasure at the way in which the team had played and he had a few good words to say about David's flying too.

"Pity you don't qualify to play for the team, David. We could use another decent reserve player."

David's smile was as wide as a dragon's, as he walked hand in hand with Susan. They stopped in the great hall to pick up a couple of huge mugs of hot chocolate and a plateful of cookies, then passed though and down the corridor to their common room.

Inside, there was a buzz of excitement in the room and everyone was talking about Hufflepuff's chances against Gryffindor. The two friends cuddled in front of the fire and then towards midnight, David kissed Susan good night and went off to bed.

That night he dreamed of flying a broom at Beauxbatons. He was racing against his friend Jonkers again.

The days passed quickly and the day of the big quidditch match arrived. David and Susan gobbled down their breakfasts, as the rest of the Hufflepuffs chattered noisily and looked over at the Gryffindor table.

The Gryffindors seemed a little subdued and this made the Hufflepuffs even more excited. Ernie and Smith said they had a good feeling about the match and the rest of the team was in good spirits too.

Down at the stadium, the crowd of students waved flags and banners and David could hardly hear himself speak to Susan at his side.

As the teams came onto the pitch, they all cheered and boo-ed in turn at their own and the opposing players.

David noticed that Harry Potter looked annoyed or distracted by something and that he kept looking over towards the stadium exit. When the teams mounted their broomsticks and got into the air, Potter still kept glancing over towards the castle from up on high.

The game began and David shouted along with the other Hufflepuffs. He didn't watch the progress of the quaffle, but kept an eye on Harry Potter. The Gryffindor seeker kept stopping in mid-air, as if he couldn't concentrate on the match.

David wondered if it was the commentator who was speaking to the crowd through a magical megaphone. He couldn't see who was commentating, but whoever it was had never done it before. She didn't know the players' names and kept forgetting to tell the crowd what was happening in the game.

Then, much to David's surprise, he saw Potter arguing with his own keeper. He was waving his arm and remonstrating with him, but the keeper was giving as good as he was getting. The Hufflepuffs laughed with glee as Potter moved back in the middle of the pitch, with a face like thunder.

Hufflepuff were playing well and were leading by seventy points to forty, when the most amazing thing of all happened. The Gryffindor keeper took hold of one of the beater's bats and was swinging it around, as if showing his team-mate how to use it properly. Suddenly, he hit one of the bludgers and it flew straight into the face of Harry Potter, who had come over to see what was going on.

There were screams and cries of horror from the crowd of Gryffindors and of disbelief from the Hufflepuffs. Potter fell to the ground unconscious. Luckily he had been quite low to the ground when he fell, so he might not have been hurt any further.

After a long break, during which Harry Potter was carried away by several teachers, the game resumed. The Gryffindor team was in a shambles and Hufflepuff scored goal after goal. The crowd was going berserk and the humiliation of the Gryffindors only came to an end when the Hufflepuff seeker managed to grab the golden snitch.

David and the others grabbed each other and jumped up and down with delight at their team's victory. They all rushed back to the Hufflepuff common room, where a huge party ensued. Professor Sprout provided food and drinks for them and they sang and danced into the night. Hufflepuff were in the leading position for the house quidditch trophy.

Before he jumped into bed, however, David had a sudden urge to sneak out and peek into the infirmary window and take a look at Harry Potter. He locked his room door and wasted no time in calling Dusty back inside. The familiar had been out in the dark and David wondered if he had been building a nest or something.

Once inside Dusty, David flew out of the window and towards the hospital wing. He perched on the windowsill and peered through the window of the room where he had seen Ron Weasley earlier in the week. The room was lit by a single lamp, from whose light David could see Harry Potter sitting up and talking to Ron Weasley.

Once again, he wished that he could hear what they were talking about, but the window was closed and the glass too thick to allow any sound to reach him. He could see Harry Potter talking animatedly and it was frustrating to wonder what was bothering him so much.

David watched, fascinated at the scene before him, when suddenly three small figures appeared in the room out of thin air. It was a pair of house-elves who were fighting and tussling with each other, and the poltergeist that David had encountered once before.

The poltergeist appeared to be egging on the elves, who were having a good old ding-dong. A semblance of order was resumed when Harry Potter cast a spell at Peeves, the poltergeist, who then zoomed off. The two elves then stopped fighting and started talking to Potter.

It wasn't clear what Potter might be saying to them, but the elves were nodding and seemingly agreeing to whatever was being asked of them. David had no clue if the elves belonged to Potter or to Weasley and he was desperate to try and find out.

He watched until the two elves suddenly disappeared and the two students finally turned off their lamp. 'What on earth was all that about?' David asked himself.

He flew back to his room in a state of confusion. He had so many questions and strange incidents to recall, but no answers or ideas about what was going on at Hogwarts. He only knew that Harry Potter was up to no good and that the Dark Lord needed to know.

It was time to talk to Voldemort again and to tell him about the elves.

The next morning, however, David had thought more about what he had seen and he decided that it wasn't important enough to bother the Dark Lord with. He would wait until he had gathered more information on Potter first.

So, from then on, David tried his best to hang around in the general vicinity of Harry Potter whenever he was able. This meant working as near to him as possible in herbology classes and making excuses to walk behind Potter and his friends, whenever Susan was with him.

Susan never showed any sign that she thought that David was behaving oddly. She would put her arm through his and walk alongside him, chatting about the lesson and any other subject that came to her.

Susan liked to talk a lot, but it never annoyed David. She had lots of stories about witches and wizards that she had met through her parents when they were alive. Her aunt had also been high up in the ministry and when she had taken Susan into work for a visit, she had met the minister for magic Cornelius Fudge.

Susan told him about the magical creatures that interested her the most, her plans to work in the ministry when she had finished her NEWTs and even what she planned to eat for breakfast the next day.

David nodded and smiled, throwing in an occasional 'yeah' when he realised that she was waiting for him to say something, but he also kept an ear open for anything that Potter might be saying to his friends.

The only odd bits that David overheard were something about Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle hanging around somewhere and something about a conversation with a girl called 'moaning Myrtle'.

David wondered whether Potter and his friends might be a bit duller than he had imagined.

One particular weekend, the school had organised extra lessons in apparition down in Hogsmeade. Susan wanted to go and get more practice in, but David said he would give it a miss for once.

"Well, if you fail the test in a few weeks it's your own fault." She told him.

She gave him a passionate kiss in the hallway and then waited in line with the others, as Filch wandered up and down the line poking them with his secrecy sensor.

David watched her go, with a slight sense of shame about lying to her. He wanted to spend the day following Potter, because he had heard him telling Ron Weasley that he too wouldn't be going to Hogsmeade.

Back in his room, David called Dusty over and once again took possession of the bird's body.

He didn't know where Potter was going to be, so he intended to take a look through the window of the Gryffindor tower. First of all though, he was going to fly over the top of Susan and get a view of her from above.

This was a lucky decision, because unknown to David, Harry Potter was examining the Marauder's Map at that time. The map showed everyone in Hogwarts and although David was in the guise of a bird, Harry only saw the name and a dot appear to be moving along the path that led to Hogsmeade.

It didn't even occur to Harry Potter that the dot was labelled as David Pryce and not Davide Bertillon. After all, Harry didn't know the name of every student at Hogwarts.

By the time that David had done his fly-by and had returned to the castle, Harry had already left the tower under his invisibility cloak and was heading off to the seventh floor corridor and the room of requirement.

David was quite enjoying his flight out in the sun. The weather was bright and warm and the wind under his wings felt totally refreshing. He closed his eyes and let himself glide downwards, only opening them at the last minute when he suddenly remembered that he might be attacked again.

With a surge of panic, he fled towards the cover of the castle walls and skimmed the ground until he reached the Gryffindor tower. He then flitted upwards until he reached the level of the common room.

This time, he had a wonderful view inside the room. All of the curtains were open and sunlight lit the interior. Sadly, the room was completely empty.

'Damn!' Cursed David and he racked his brains as to where Potter might be.

It was a big castle and there were dozens of places that a student might spend his time at the weekend.

There was nothing for it, but to look in at the most likely places.

The first place that David checked was the school library. The windows there were very small and the room was badly lit inside. There were a few studious types lurking around the shelves and sitting at the study benches, but no Harry Potter.

The same was true of the great hall and the herbology greenhouses. It wouldn't be possible to check every classroom, corridor and bathroom, so David decided to give it up and take a look for Malfoy instead.

He then realised that he had no idea where the Slytherin common room was and that the only place he had seen Malfoy before, was the corridor on the seventh floor.

With a shrug of his feathers, David flew up to the window where he had seen Malfoy enter the hidden room.

The corridor was deserted, or so it seemed. From the far end, a young woman was walking slowly towards him. All of a sudden, Harry Potter appeared from nowhere. It looked as if he had fallen out of the wall.

The woman looked down at him in surprise and said something. Potter hadn't been inside the room at all. David could now see that he had been wearing an invisibility cloak. The amazing object was flowing in Potter's hands like a shimmering river of water.

Whatever it covered, just disappeared from view. It was hard to make out the actual shape of it, as Potter folded it up and stuffed it inside his robes.

'It must be incredibly thin.' Thought David and he wished that he could have a go with it himself. 'What couldn't I do with something like that!'

Potter was now chatting with the woman, who David suddenly recognised as the woman who he had bumped into when he had got off the train on his arrival at Hogwarts. Her hair was a different colour though now.

The conversation didn't last long and the woman left Potter and carried on walking towards David and the stairs going down.

After a moment, Potter pulled out the invisibility cloak and swung it over his head, disappearing instantly.

David's heart thumped. He now had the proof that Potter did indeed possess a cloak of invisibility. This was good news, but on the down side he now saw that he had no way of following Potter if he was wearing the cloak.

Still, the Dark Lord would surely be interested to know that Harry Potter was spying on Draco Malfoy, but whether or not it was on Dumbledore's orders remained a mystery.

He needed to find out what Dumbledore was doing when nobody else was around to see him. That would be more difficult to find out.

David then began to wonder about the young woman who had met Potter. She hadn't been overly shocked or amazed to see Potter suddenly appear like that. She must have known him, but how?

He also didn't recall seeing the woman about the castle since that first day. 'I suppose she could be a teacher.' He told himself. 'There are quite a few Professors who stay in their own rooms during the day and then make a one-off appearance, like that Burbage woman.'

Feeling that maybe the day hadn't been wasted after all, David flew back around the castle and back through the ground-floor window and into his room.

He landed on the windowsill with a jolt and a silent shout of surprise. There, in the room, was Pinky the house-elf and she was stood at the side of his body and patting his hand.

"Wake up, Master David." Said Pinky, picking up the lifeless hand and stroking it gently.

She hadn't heard David landing lightly in the window and he took the opportunity to return to his body as quickly as he could.

Dusty gave a 'caw', which distracted Pinky for a moment and then he flew back outside, leaving David alone with Pinky.

He opened his eyes and a huge grin erupted on his face.

"Pinky!"

He sat up and pulled the elf towards him, giving her a long and tight hug. She squeaked in joy at David's delight and hugged him back. Her tiny little arms hardly reaching all the way around him.

"Master David has grown even since Pinky last saw him." She said with a smile.

"It's great to see you again." Said David.

"What brings you here to Hogwarts? How did you get here?"

"House-elves can apparate when they needs to." She replied.

"Pinky has been told to give Master David this." She said and handed David a small package.

"The Dark Lord told me to tell you that it may come in useful for you."

"You saw the Dark Lord?" David asked.

Pinky shivered and blinked her eyes, staring directly into those of David.

"Yes. Pinky was very scared of him. The Dark Lord gives me the gold that I sends to you using an owl, but owls cannot get through the magical protection that is around the Hogwarts castle, so Pinky has brought it in person herself." She beamed happily.

"Thank you, Pinky. You're so kind."

David put his hand on hers and gave it a quick squeeze.

"The Dark Lord also tells Pinky to say that he has been told that Albus Dumbledore is leaving the castle for days at a time and so he wants you to find out why."

"I also has more gold for you, from the Dark Lord." She said and pulled out a clinking pouch from under the pillowcase that she was wearing.

"I was just about to go for dinner in the Great Hall. Do you want to come with me? My friend Susan would love to meet you. I've told her all about you."

A slight frown fell over Pinky's face, but then she recovered herself and put on another smile.

"Pinky would love to do that, but is not allowed."

David sighed.

"Maybe I can get some food and drink and bring it back here for us?" He suggested.

"Master David has no need to do that. Pinky can go to the kitchens herself and ask her cousin Winky to bring food here." She said.

"Brilliant!" Said David and he jumped up and started to clear the writing table.

Pinky winked at David and raised one hand in the air. With a 'snap' of the fingers she disappeared.

Half an hour later, there was another 'snap' and Pinky re-appeared carrying a large silver salver. At her side was another elf who looked vaguely similar in size and shape, but with more of a tomato-shaped nose. She was also carrying a heavy salver.

She looked at David in a furtive way, as if unsure about him, then whispered something to Pinky. Pinky immediately flushed and rolled her eyes up, to look at David very meekly.

Winky then giggled loudly and with one hand over her mouth to try to hide it, she placed down the salver, then turned around and disappeared with a loud 'crack'.

"Pinky is very sorry for taking so long to bring the food, but her cousin Winky had lots of news to tell me." Pinky apologised.

"No problem." Said David.

"I bet she was thrilled to meet you."

Pinky beamed with pleasure.

"Winky was pleased to see Pinky again. She has been very upset since her Master was killed and she is only just getting used to her new home."

David nodded and eyed up the salvers.

Pinky grinned at him and 'tut-ted'.

"Always as hungry as a hippogriff."

The two friends laughed and Pinky removed the lids from the salvers. A cloud of steam arose and the aroma of stew and dumplings filled the air.

There was a jug of pumpkin juice, a bowl of trifle and all the knives, forks and dishes that they needed. Pinky served up the food and they tucked in.

They chatted together as they ate. Pinky told David about goings-on at the Maison and David recalled everything that he could about Hogwarts and the lessons he was taking. He played down his friendship with Susan and concentrated more on the Creavey brothers.

Pinky was interested in everything that David had done since he had left her in the summer. David, meanwhile, was enjoying Pinky's stories about Ralf and Igor. Apparently, a strong wind had broken another branch on the whomping willow and Ralf had been given the task of trying to repair it.

David actually cried with laughter at Pinky's impersonation of Ralf creeping up to the tree in the middle of the night and then of him flying through the air after he had been hit like a golf ball. The poor elf had landed in a pond and swallowed a large amount of dirty water.

Pinky assured David that Ralf had soon recovered and that the broken branch had eventually been hurled off the tree, as it flailed them around in anger.

The branch in question had then gone crashing through a bay window and Igor had to replace the glass later.

Pinky stayed for a couple of hours before she reluctantly had to return home. There was a tear in her eye, as David gave her another warm hug and a small kiss on her cheek. Her face glowed as red as a fire engine and she began to hiccup.

"Bye, Pinky. See you soon." Said David.

"Goodbye, Master David."

With a 'crack', the house-elf disappeared. David looked at the spot where she had been standing and smiled happily.

The Apparition Test

The week finally arrived when David and Susan were due to take their apparition test. On Monday morning at the breakfast table, they talked about their fear of failing. The test was going to take place that afternoon, after the Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

The day passed quickly, as far as David was concerned and he and Susan headed for their last lesson with butterflies starting to squirm in their stomachs.

Those butterflies were turned to churning fear, as the group of students arrived outside of Hagrid's hut, to find the body of an enormous black spider lying dead on his front lawn.

The thing was hideous to see and nobody had the nerve to go near it, to take a closer look. It lay there curled up and upside-down, a frightening sight. David then remembered that he had seen this spider before, when he had followed Hagrid into the forest.

He stood with the others, trembling slightly and they all jumped as Hagrid opened his door suddenly and stumbled down the steps towards them.

He was visibly upset and kept wiping his eyes with a huge dirty handkerchief. He looked over at the spider and a fresh wave of sobbing began. It took a little while for Hagrid to compose himself, but eventually he managed to gain some sort of control.

His voice was cracked and quavering, as he greeted the students and pointed over at the body.

"Thought yer'd like to see an acromantula."

The students gasped in awe.

"He died last night and I'm going to bury him tonight, so this is probably the only chance you'll ever get to see one." Hagrid sniffed.

He then went on to describe the life cycle of the beast and how he had brought him up himself, from egg to giant monster.

Everyone stood there with their mouth open in disbelief and eyes wide. It was obvious that Hagrid was a complete expert on these spiders and although he was weak and wavery, he answered each and every question that the students began to throw at him.

David felt really sorry for Hagrid, who he could tell was in a state of shock and was talking automatically. When it all became too much for him, Hagrid dismissed the class, but not before he gave a small piece of parchment to one of the girls and asked her to take it to Harry Potter.

David's ears perked up, but he couldn't follow her, as he and Susan had to go straight to the apparition test after the lesson. Before they left, however, he went over to Hagrid and offered his condolences to him.

Hagrid smiled weakly and patted David on the shoulder, causing him to buckle at the knees.

"Thanks, David. That means a lot to me."

David and Susan then hurried off towards the path leading to the castle and the Great Hall, where they would take their apparition test.

The Hall had been divided into two areas using a huge black velvet curtain. On the first side a set of chairs were lined up and here the students were to wait their turn to apparate. The second area was hidden from view, but David guessed that there would be a similar seating arrangement.

The Ministry Official who was to be their Examiner was chatting busily to Madam Pomfrey, while several other Professors moved around the group of students and ticked their names off a sheet of paper. There were forty or so students, including all of the seventh-year and those from the sixth-year who were old enough to take the test.

The test was simple enough. When all the students were accounted for, the Examiner clapped his hands and a sudden silence descended.

"Welcome everybody and good luck to you all. I know that you have all been practicing very hard and you are all very nervous, but have no fear. The test comprises only of three apparitions through the curtain that you see before us."

Everybody's eyes glanced at the dark and forbidding screen. It suddenly seemed like an impenetrable brick wall, both high and wide.

"I would like you each in turn, to apparate from the hoop on the floor." The wispy old man said and indicated the hoop lying on the floor at his side.

"Into a similar hoop on the other side. If you are successful, you will then be allowed to apparate back to this side and into your vacated chair."

Everybody laughed nervously and looked at each other, making a note of which person was sat on either side of them.

"If you are again successful, then you will apparate back through the curtain and into the wardrobe on the other side."

He flicked his wand at the curtain and it lifted up to show a solid wooden wardrobe standing there. Another flick of the wand caused the curtain to fall back down.

David gulped and took hold of Susan's hand and gave it a squeeze. The tasks had been given and all there was for it was to give it a go. He felt nervous, but also had confidence that he could do it.

"Right. Are we ready to begin?" He asked and he nodded at Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey, who went around the side of the curtain to wait for the apparators.

David didn't have long to wait. The students were called out in alphabetical order and David Bertillon was second in the list.

The first student to be called was a tall and mature-looking boy named Bobby Appledore. When his name was called, he strolled over to the hoop and stood stiffly waiting for the Examiner to say 'go'.

"When you are ready, you can make your first apparition." Said the man and he gave Bobby a friendly smile.

With an almighty 'crack', the boy disappeared and instantly a similar 'crack' was heard behind the curtain.

"Pass!" Came the cry of Professor McGonagall from out of sight.

Then without any waiting, the sound of the boy disapparating and then re-appearing amongst them was heard.

The other students clapped loudly and his friends cheered and called his name, as he sat and grinned happily at them.

"Pass." Said the Examiner.

"Last apparition, please."

Bobby waved at the others and as he did so, he disappeared noisily and there was a muffled 'crack' in the distance. This was followed by the rattling of a door handle, then the voice of Professor McGonagall calling.

"Pass!"

Everybody cheered and the curtain ruffled, as Bobby tried to find the opening through to the other side. Eventually, his head popped around the gap between the curtain and wall and he walked sheepishly to the Examiner, who shook his hand and wrote something on his clipboard.

"Next student, David Bertillon."

David turned to Susan and she gave him a quick hug and told him.

"I know you can do it. Good luck!"

David swallowed hard and stood up. It seemed to take an age to walk the short distance to the hoop, but once he was there time almost stood still.

He looked around at the Examiner and the curtain, at the faces of the other students and finally into the eyes of Susan. A sudden sense of pride and something else, something that warmed him from the inside, surged through his body.

"In you own time." Said the little old man.

David closed his eyes and thought about the hoop on the other side. He thought about what he would be able to do if he passed the test. He could go anywhere he liked. Back to the mansion? Maybe taking Susan with him?

He turned and moved through non-space. In an instant, he opened his eyes and was standing in front of the smiling face of Professor McGonagall. He never heard the cracking sounds that his own apparition had made.

"Good afternoon, David." She said to him.

"All your organs still in their right place? No pains or unusual sensations about you body?" She asked.

"No and no, Professor." He replied and looked over her shoulder at the wardrobe, trying to memorise its size and colour.

Madam Pomfrey looked him over and then called out.

"Pass!"

"Alright then. Off you go, young man."

It wasn't difficult for David to concentrate on his seat beside Susan. The image of her face filled his mind and he turned swiftly on the spot.

Once again, he was seated at her side and she looked at him in awe and admiration. She clapped and cheered as loud as anyone else in the room.

David looked around happily and gave a quick thumbs-up to the others. He didn't even wait for the Examiner to finish saying.

"Next, the wardr…"

David thought with all his might about the wardrobe on the other side. He could see its wooden doors and imagined being stood inside it. He turned and disappeared.

With a thrill of horror, David took a sharp breath. Everything had turned black. 'What's happened?' He thought to himself.

Then he realised his foolishness. A crack of light that widened and then turned into full daylight filled his eyes. He was inside the wardrobe and its doors were being opened by Professor McGonagall.

He stepped out timidly, as she took his hand and shook it vigorously.

"Pass!" She called out.

"Well done, David. Enjoy the rest of the afternoon."

In a slight daze, he made his way around the curtain and back to the others. They were all clapping him and he felt on top of the world.

Susan grabbed him around the neck as he sat down and gave him a huge kiss. Then she jumped up and headed over to the Examiner herself.

David was still in a bit of a daze, as Susan went through the three tasks with an ease that took him by surprise. She had passed the apparition exam too!

Even though they could have left the Great Hall, they stopped to watch and clap as each of the other students took the test. They applauded every time that someone made a successful apparition and groaned when anybody failed, for whatever reason.

The whole experience was something that David could never forget. For the only time that he had known, students from each of the school houses were cheering on the others.

The majority of them passed easily, but there were a few failures. Nobody was actually splinched during the test, but one or two had hands on the wrong way round, or lost an eyebrow or two.

The Examiner was very strict about losing, or changing any body parts. David had a feeling of guilty pleasure when Harry Potter's friend, Ron Weasley, returned to his seat with a part of his eyebrow missing.

Proceedings were held up while Professor McGonagall searched the floor for the item in question, then re-attached it to Ron's face. She gave him a look of pity and a pat on the back for his troubles.

When it was over, there were congratulations and commiseration all round. David and Susan happily strolled back to the Hufflepuff common room and sat on a sofa near to the fire, telling and re-telling the story of the test to the other students.

They had a fine dinner that night. David chose a thick steak and fat crispy chips. He felt slightly drained after the efforts of the apparition test and the excitement surrounding it. He dipped his chips into a small pot of gravy and chatted with Susan about where they could go by apparition, when they had finally left school.

Meanwhile, he kept a beady eye on Harry Potter, over at the Gryffindor table. He was talking with his two friends, as usual. On the Slytherin table, Draco Malfoy was staring down at his plate and not eating anything. He really didn't look at all well.

David also noticed that Dumbledore's seat was empty at the staff table. 'Maybe he eats in the privacy of his own room?' He thought to himself.

Biggins had noticed that David was looking up at the staff table and he leaned over to David and said.

"Dumbledore's seat is empty more often than it is occupied nowadays. I reckon that he's visiting the Ministry to help in the search for he-who-must-not-be-named." His voice lowered into a whisper at the end.

"Does he leave the castle, then?" Asked David.

"Oh, sure." Biggins replied.

"Everybody knows that. He's been seen flying off on his broomstick by a few people now and again."

"Which way does he go?" Asked David, in anticipation.

"Off towards Hogsmeade." Said Biggins.

David rolled his eyes in disappointment.

"Yeah, but just because he's flying off that way, it doesn't mean that he can't change direction later. He might even be leaving his broomstick somewhere and then apparating to another destination." Biggins winked conspiratorially.

"How far can a wizard apparate?" Asked David.

"Well, it depends on the wizard. How powerful he is. It's not possible to apparate over large stretches of water, though. You have to use a broomstick for that. That's why Azkaban was built out at sea, so that it's difficult to get to and from."

David raised his eyebrows. He'd never heard that before. It was pretty interesting, but it put paid to his plans to apparate to Fiji with Susan.

"You could always use a port key, if you had to go abroad. Their use is controlled by the Ministry, so they know who is going where. Very few people have the authority to use them, or create them. I guess that Dumbledore could do it, since he is Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards."

David thought about what Biggins had told him. It didn't answer any questions, but only made David see that Dumbledore had the means to go wherever he pleased when he got outside of the Hogwarts castle's protection.

Later on, when David had kissed Susan goodnight and gone back to his room, he noticed that the small parcel given to him by Pinky was still on the table. He had forgotten about it, because of his thinking about the apparition test.

He picked it up and shook it. It rattled softly. He carefully undid the string around the wrapper and then took it off. Inside was a cardboard box with a label saying 'Weasley's Wizard Wheezes presents: The Extendable Ear."

The rest of the blurb on the box told the owner that he had purchased the 'Finest in Stealth and Sneakery'. It was also the best way to 'Keep your Ear to the Ground.'

Inside the box was a pink ear-shaped object, with a spaghetti-like extension. It was basically, a listening device.

David tried sticking the end of the 'string' in his ear and dropped the 'ear' onto the floor. It immediately wriggled along the floor and up to the bottom of the door. A sudden loud conversation came into David's ear from the string.

It was Biggins, outside in the corridor. He was chatting to Dawkins about the next round of quidditch matches. Hufflepuff were now top of the table and leading by over three hundred points from Gryffindor. It would take a miracle for any other house to overtake them now.

This was amazing. David listened excitedly, not particularly interested in the conversation as such, but keen to put the extendable ear to further use in his quest to find out what Dumbledore and Potter were both up to. Maybe he could listen in at the door of the hidden room when Malfoy was inside?

Lots of ideas went through David's imagination and he went to bed completely satisfied that it had been a good day for him.

News for the Dark Lord

The next day, David hid the extendable ear inside his robes and made his way to the breakfast table. He had a plan to listen in on Harry Potter and his friends.

"How's my handsome apparition expert, this morning?" Asked Susan and ruffled David's hair as he sat down.

"You're the expert." He replied.

"I'm going to have to check my wardrobe every night now, before I get ready for bed."

Their fellow Hufflepuffs laughed appreciatively.

"Eat up." Said Susan, looking at her wristwatch.

"You're late already and we've got to get out to greenhouse three this morning."

"Oh yeah, I forgot. We're looking at Wandering Cocksfoot plants." David said and starting wolfing down his bacon and eggs.

The plants turned out to be less interesting than David had expected. He had thought that these plants might be under lock and key to prevent them from wandering out of the greenhouse and around the castle grounds. It turned out that they just grew very long tendrils that hooked themselves onto passing animals and then released themselves later on. It was a way of propagating over distances.

Both David and Susan found themselves yawning profusely as the lesson wore on and they were grateful to finally finish and make their way over to the Charms classroom. This was where David planned to use his extendable ear.

Just as Professor Flitwick called them all in, David grabbed Susan's arm and said.

"Can you just tell the Professor that I had to go to the bathroom and will be five minutes late? I need to go right now!"

Susan looked at him open-mouthed, as David gave her a quick peck on the cheek and hurried up the corridor and out of sight.

He waited for a minute to let the students get into the classroom and then sneaked back towards the door. His heart raced and he felt hot, as he glanced up and down to make sure that nobody was watching.

He then spread a few books on the floor and knelt down, to make it look as if he had dropped them and was picking them up. Instead of this, however, he took the extendable ear out of his pocket and placed the thin end in his own. He then let the ear wriggle under the gap beneath the door.

It took a couple of minutes before he began to hear Professor Flitwick giving instructions on how to perform the charm that would turn a flask of vinegar into wine.

'Handy!' Thought David to himself.

Suddenly a voice much louder came through.

"I don't know how serious David is taking it, but I'm totally in love with him at the moment."

It was Susan.

"But what will happen when he has to go back to France? Said the voice of Hannah Abbot.

"I'll follow him like a dog." Giggled Susan and David grinned inwardly.

David pulled back the ear and tried again.

The next conversation was between a couple of Ravenclaws who were making plans to sneak a vinegar bottle from the dinner table later that evening and to make themselves a couple of glasses of wine each.

With a touch of annoyance, David pulled back the ear and in desperation tried one last time.

This time he hit the gold. The voice of Harry Potter came through, though it appeared that he was whispering to his friends.

"… so when he does, he said that he would take me along with him."

"Wow." Came the voice of Ron Weasley.

"Wow. You're actually going to go with Dumbledore… and try and destroy… wow."

David gasped in shock. They WERE up to something.

A sudden noise from somewhere behind David made him yank back the ear and stuff it into his pocket.

"Are you alright, David?" Asked Professor Burbage.

She was walking up from the far end of the corridor.

"Oh yes, Professor." David lied.

"I was hurrying to my lesson and tripped up."

He hurriedly picked up the books and opened the door to the classroom.

"Good day." Said the Professor and smiled at him as she passed by.

David looked at her, but didn't reply. He was almost angry that he had been denied more time to listen in on the conversation.

He apologised to Professor Flitwick for being late and then went over to stand beside Susan and Hannah. He looked over at Harry Potter and was again amazed to find that although he and his friends were quite close, he couldn't make out a word of what was being said.

'They have to be using some kind of spell in here.' He thought and it was true. The 'muffliato' spell had been cast on them all.

His concentration was broken by Susan, who greeted him and then proceeded to show him how to use the charm they were working on. Meanwhile, for some bizarre reason it started to snow in the classroom.

David spent the rest of the day watching the clock and thinking about what the Dark Lord might have to say on the subject of Potter and Dumbledore.

That night, he took the crystal ball out of his trunk and sat on his bed with it in his hand. He was eager to gain some form of approval from Voldemort again, but now there was also a touch of nervousness.

Were the stories about the Dark Lord all true? Were just a few of them true? He wanted to know the truth, but he was scared of asking him. It would be an insult and David felt that the Dark Lord wouldn't take too kindly to being asked such a question.

It was over an hour before David saw a haze of smoke forming in the centre of the ball. His stomach churned and his ears burned red hot as the image of Lord Voldemort arose and looked out at him.

"You have news for me?" Asked Voldemort, without hesitation.

David stared at the Dark Lord and stuttered.

"Yes, my Lord. I have heard Harry Potter telling his friends that Dumbledore is planning to destroy someone and that he will take Potter along with him."

Voldemort's eyes glowed bright yellow.

"I knew it! The old fool thinks that he can use the boy to defeat me. Did you hear anything else?"

David thought for a moment and then said.

"Someone told me that it was common knowledge that Dumbledore has been flying out of the castle on a broomstick, out towards Hogsmeade."

"He is searching for me. I know this, but he has no chance and he will not face me alone. That is why he is training Potter and will use him against me."

"One of Potter's friends passed the apparition test. The girl called Grainger. Potter couldn't take the test himself, he is too young." David remembered.

"Of course." Voldemort said, more to himself than to David.

"So, Dumbledore will have to use side-along apparition or broomsticks to travel with Potter. He wouldn't use a port key unless he was desperate. Did you take the test yourself?"

"Yes, my Lord. I passed easily and so did Susan." David smiled as he said this, but then regretted it as he saw the dark look on Voldemort's face.

"I also was invited into Dumbledore's office and he told me that the phoenix called Fawkes is his familiar."

Voldemort again pricked up his ears at this news, but then seemed to grow angry at the thought that Dumbledore had a familiar and yet he himself didn't.

"There is nothing special in a familiar." He lied to David.

"They have no special powers that are of use to me. You would do better to rid yourself of yours."

David stared back in astonishment.

"I do not like that you are also spending so much time with the girl. She distracts you from your purpose. Stay away from her and concentrate on your task for me."

A tear formed in the corner of David's eye and his mouth went dry.

"Of, of course, my Lord." He said and he bent his head down low.

He didn't want to let the Dark Lord see him crying.

"What else do you have to tell me?" Said Voldemort, with a cruel look on his face.

David took a second to compose himself and then explained to Voldemort, how Ron Weasley had been using the 'muffliato' spell to hide his conversations with Harry Potter.

He also told about seeing Hermione Grainger at Slughorn's party and of the giant three-headed dog that Hagrid kept in the school. He also told him about the giant spider that had died.

"Ahh, I had forgotten about the acromantula. So, it was living in the forest for all these years. Slughorn?" Voldemort whispered and grew grim and dangerous again.

"He will be punished and killed if I find that he had been helping Dumbledore. He has forsaken the ways of Slytherin and hides where he thinks he will be safe. Still, he was a good housemaster in his time and there may yet be time for him to repent and to join us. His skills would be a very useful asset."

"I will try to find out more about him, my Lord." David assured him.

"By the way, I did over hear Potter say that Dumbledore was angry with Professor Snape."

Voldemort smiled to himself and said.

"Do not worry about Snape, but keep me informed if you hear anything more."

David then remembered the newspaper story and the letter from Jonkers.

"You appear to be nervous, apprentice. What do you want to ask?" Said Voldemort and held him in his stare.

David gulped and finally asked the question that had been haunting him over the past few weeks.

"Did you kill my foster parents? I read something in a French newspaper."

Voldemort's face became a mask and then he snarled at David.

"Are you not happy with all that I have given to you? Did I not rescue you from those mudbloods and make you a wizard?"

"Of course, my Lord. I just…"

"Do not make me angry and do not ever question my actions again." Voldemort hissed.

David flushed and tears again filled his eyes.

"I'm sorry, my Lord. I wasn't thinking. I was worried about the letters I've been receiving from a school friend of Davide in France."

Voldemort calmed down and this time spoke soothingly at David.

"You do not yet fully understand what needs to be done for wizardkind to emerge from the oppression of mudbloods and muggles. We have to make hard choices and take strong action to achieve our aims."

David nodded in confusion.

"In time, I will ask you to show me your loyalty and to prove that you have the strength of will to do whatever it takes to fulfil your destiny. I have chosen you as apprentice, because you have to potential to become a leader of other wizards. To be my second in command."

David's eyes lit up and once again the Dark Lord appeared to be beneficent and generous, a great wizard that David would follow to the end.

Voldemort was indeed a great wizard, but this was an old trick of his to overcome the will of a weaker mind. He could easily dominate and persuade wizards who came to him with an open mind. David fell under his spell with consummate ease.

"Now, tell me more." Said Voldemort.

David racked his brains, but it was difficult, as he had become rather befuddled.

"Elves!" He remembered.

"House elves?" Asked Voldemort.

David then recounted how he saw Potter talking to two house elves, but that he couldn't hear what was being said.

Voldemort thought about this strange piece of news.

"Has Potter met with any other strangers or magical creatures?"

"Yes. I saw him in a corridor. He had been hidden under an invisibility cloak, but then he appeared and was talking to a young woman. I don't know who she is."

David described the woman, remembering how she had different coloured hair from the first time that he had bumped into her.

"I had heard that Potter possesses a cloak of invisibility. As for the woman… I think it is likely to be an auror. She sounds like one of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's followers. So, he is protecting the school with members of the Order? Interesting. I will have to take this into account."

David looked at Voldemort quizzically.

"Some of your information is useful to me." Voldemort said flatly.

"Continue your work and tell me immediately, if you see Dumbledore leaving the school. It may be possible to track him once he has left the protection of the school grounds and I need to know when the school is not protected by his presence."

"Yes, my Lord." Said David.

Voldemort became blurred in the crystal ball and then disappeared, leaving only a smoky outline that faded away.

David broke down and sobbed.

The Cup is Lost

David awoke the next morning, feeling completely exhausted. The combinations of emotions that he was feeling at that moment were tumbling over in his mind and he was finding it hard to handle.

The Dark Lord had told him to stay away from Susan, but he couldn't do that. He also knew that if he didn't do what he had been told by the Dark Lord, then things might go very badly for him.

He had this deep admiration for the Dark Lord and a desperation to make him happy and to receive his praise, but there was a part of David's mind that wanted to disobey.

He had to think about it properly, but it was just too complicated. He decided to continue as things were and to see how it all turned out later. He might find it easier to make the hard choices when school had finished for the summer.

When he went down to breakfast and Susan came over to give him a hug, he looked at her with sadness in his eyes.

"Hey, cookie. What's the matter? You look like you dropped a golden snitch." She said and stroked his hair.

David tried a half smile.

"Just feeling off again." He mumbled.

Susan served him a plate of sausages and reassured him that he would get over this homesickness.

Biggins was sitting nearby and spoke to everyone there.

"Last practice before the final quidditch match of the season for us." He said.

David suddenly perked up a little at this.

"David. How do you fancy practicing with the team tonight?"

"Sure thing." Said David and suddenly he felt happy again.

Zacharias Smith leaned around Biggins and added.

"He means, do you want to practice 'for' the team? Debbie Bolger has got a bout of Hippogriff 'Itch' and she can't hold her broomstick properly, so we are a chaser down."

"You mean you might want me to play for Hufflepuff against Slytherin?" Asked David excitedly.

"There's no 'might' about it, mate. I watched you closely at the last game practice and I think you're good enough."

"Fantastic!" David exclaimed.

"Ooh, brilliant. Well done, David." Said Susan and threw her arms around his neck.

In that instance, all memory of the night before dissolved away and David's mind became clear again. He had something really exciting to look forward to.

The day flew by and David's thought was all about the practice.

That night, he had one of the best times of his life, playing as a chaser for the Hufflepuff team against their practice opponents.

David scored four goals and set up a dozen others for Zacharias Smith and Cadwallader. The three of them were unstoppable.

"That cup's as good as in the bag." Said Smith and he clapped David on the back.

The cheers for the team rang out, as they returned to the Hufflepuff common room and everyone talked excitedly about the prospect of lifting the quidditch cup.

"Let's do this for the memory of Cedric Diggory." Said Biggins and he raised a glass of pumpkin juice up to a portrait of a handsome young man, on the wall of the common room.

Everyone turned to the painting and raised their glasses in unison.

"Cedric." They called together.

On the morning of the quidditch match, David had butterflies in his stomach. It didn't stop him eating a bowl of porridge laced with honey though. He looked over at the Slytherin table and heard the jeers and catcalling of their opponents.

He looked over at the Gryffindor table and noticed that Harry Potter was watching him. He gulped down a mouthful of porridge, as Harry gave him the 'thumbs up'. David smiled wanly and returned the gesture.

'I bet he wants us to lose.' David thought to himself. 'If we win today, then Gryffindor will have no real chance of overtaking us.'

Soon, it was time to go down to the quidditch pitch and play. David walked down with Susan, who carried his broomstick for him. She kept up a stream of encouragement and soon her words became lost in the noise coming out from the stadium.

David joined the rest of the team in the changing room and they went over last-minute tactics and preparations. Zacharias was leaving nothing to chance.

"Slytherin are playing their reserve seeker again, so it looks like they've given up on the championship and are not going to put in much of an effort. So, let's go out there and make it three wins out of three for Hufflepuff." He exhorted.

"Hufflepuff!" They all chanted and made their way out onto the pitch.

David was astounded at the level of noise coming from the stands. It seemed that all the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were shouting for Slytherin, though it must have hurt them to do so

It was an important match for all of the teams involved and the outcome would affect Ravenclaw in particular. Next to Gryffindor, they would be second favourites to lift the trophy, if Hufflepuff won today. They had beaten Slytherin themselves, following their thrashing by Gryffindor in the opening match of the season and they could still grab the cup from Hufflepuff's grasp if the final two results went their way.

Madam Hooch was the referee and she could hardly be heard above the raucous noise surrounding them.

"Play well and play fair." She shouted through the din and she threw the quaffle up into the air.

Immediately, Smith looped down and grabbed it. He hurled it skywards towards Cadwallader, as a Slytherin beater blasted one of the bludgers at him.

Meanwhile, David turned and headed out to the right-hand side of the pitch. He looked backwards and saw Patsy Digweed, the Hufflepuff seeker zooming upwards.

Cadwallader had seen David making space for himself and he passed the quaffle over to him. David took the quaffle and sped forwards towards the Slytherin goal.

His broomstick was borrowed from Debbie, who was sitting next to Susan in the stands and she cheered loudly. The Cleansweep Eleven wasn't a bad broomstick, in David's opinion. It handled just as well as any that Davide Bertillon had flown before.

As he approached the Slytherin keeper, David feinted left and then swerved right. He hurled the quaffle with all of his might at the gap between keeper and hoop rim. It went in!

"Goal!" Screamed the Hufflepuffs and David swooped back around towards the centre.

As he zoomed along, he passed a small black object that suddenly sped up and flew alongside him.

"Dusty!" David called out.

"What are you doing here?"

The bird caw-ed back at him and did a little loop-the-loop. David laughed out loud with joy.

"Go and join Susan in the stands. You can watch from there."

The bird tipped a black wing in acknowledgement and then disappeared into the distance.

The game continued and the Hufflepuffs outplayed Slytherin in every area of the pitch. They scored again and again, taking the score up to one hundred and fifty points versus sixty to Slytherin.

David had completed a hat-trick of goals within the first ten minutes of the game and then turned provider to Smith and Cadwallader. He was just beginning to relax and think about how many more goals he might score, when disaster struck.

There was a commotion at the far end of the pitch from where David was hovering and then Madam Hooch blew a long blast on her whistle to indicate that the match was over. Slytherin had caught the golden snitch.

Hufflepuff had lost the game. After playing so well and dominating the game completely, the victory had been snatched away from them by the Slytherin seeker.

David floated down to the pitch in a daze of disbelief. The other team members were looking at each other, as the Slytherin fans went wild and the team in green and black piled themselves upon their seeker.

David slouched back to the changing room with the others, where Zacharias Smith told them that it wasn't so bad and that the points difference between them and Gryffindor was still three hundred in Hufflepuff's favour.

Still, it was a bitter defeat for David to take in his first real quidditch match. He'd played well, but it wasn't enough to win the match.

Back at the dinner table that night, Susan and the other Hufflepuffs commiserated with the team, but now David was beginning to feel angry. He felt cheated that they had scored all those goals but had lost the game just because the Slytherins had caught the snitch.

"Oh go away, will you." David spat at Susan.

"You just don't understand, do you?"

"David?" She cried.

"What's the matter? What have I said?"

"Just go away and leave me alone." He said bitterly and got up and left the table, his plate of pasta still steaming.

He didn't feel like eating and he didn't feel like being patronised by Susan. The poison of the Dark Lord's words was floating around in his mind now. He wanted revenge and he wanted to show the Dark Lord that he could achieve his tasks.

For the rest of the week Susan avoided David and in their classes, she sat on the other side of Hannah Abbot. They didn't speak to each other at all.

In the middle of the week there was an unexpected boost to the morale of the Hufflepuff quidditch team. Harry Potter, the seeker for the Gryffindor team had been excluded from the final match of the season.

He had attacked another student, Draco Malfoy, in one of the bathrooms. The story was going around that Potter had tried to kill Malfoy and that the Slytherin had only survived because one of the Professors had been passing at the time and had saved his life.

The story had been related to the goggling Hufflepuffs by the fat friar, who had heard it from another ghost by the name of 'moaning' Myrtle.

David couldn't believe that Potter would really attempt to kill another student, but it was strange how he had also been trailing him in his invisibility cloak for some time before this incident.

He needed to tail Potter some more and listen in on his conversations.

He could use the excuse of pretending to be locked up in his room and avoiding Susan, as a cover to allow him to enter Dusty and roam about the castle looking for Potter.

Susan did try to catch David's eye on one or two occasions in class, but he determinedly avoided her gaze. It was the only plan he had and he was going to stick to it. He decided to begin his campaign at the weekend, after the last quidditch match of the season.

On Saturday, David met up with Ernie Macmillan, Zacharias Smith and the other quidditch team players. They were going to watch the match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, then celebrate together after the match.

Professor Sprout had reluctantly arranged for the Hogwarts house-elves to provide a buffet supper for the Hufflepuffs in their common room.

"I don't want to put a jinx on us, by preparing a victory supper before we've got the cup in our hands." She had said, but the Hufflepuffs had badgered her until she gave in and agreed.

"Don't count your dragons before they are hatched." She had also admonished, but her warnings fell on deaf ears.

The whole of Hufflepuff house was going down to the stadium to watch, as were nearly all of the other students. The odds were that Hufflepuff would win the cup, no matter which of the two teams won today.

Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was one of celebration by the Hufflepuffs and raucous support by the Gryffindors. The weather was warm and fine. The sun was shining brightly, but a cloudy haze kept the full heat of it away from them.

"We're going to win the cup, we're going to win the cup!" Sang the Hufflepuffs and they firmly believed it.

"Who's playing seeker for Gryffindor?" David shouted to Ernie, over the din.

"Ginny Weasley, Potter's new girlfriend." Ernie roared back.

As the two teams walked out to the pitch, David saw that the Gryffindors were being led out by the red-haired girl he had seen on many occasions before.

The noise level increased so much that David could hear neither the whistle from Madam Hooch, nor the commentary. He had no idea who the commentator was, boy or girl.

Within two minutes, Gryffindor scored. Ginny Weasley passed two opponents and wrong-broomed the keeper with ease. Things got worse and more ominous for the Hufflepuffs when Gryffindor scored three more goals in ten minutes.

The Gryffindors were going crazy with excitement, but the Hufflepuffs were looking at each other non-plussed. Surely, Gryffindor couldn't pull off a miracle and deny Hufflepuff the cup?

The score was seventy to nil before Ravenclaw finally got their act together and scored a couple of goals in reply. However, this seemed to drive the Gryffindor team to further heights of good play.

Again and again they scored. The Hufflepuffs groaned as loudly as the Ravenclaws, as each quaffle passed through a goal hoop.

One hundred and fifty points to forty, was the score when Gryffindor began to tire and Ravenclaw began their comeback.

Once, twice, three times they scored in succession. Then the two teams began to trade goals, each scoring one after the other. They were slugging it out like two heavyweight boxers.

The crowd was up on its feet again, Gryffindors screaming and bellowing, urging their team on. They were still outscoring the Ravenclaws and slowly opening up the gap in the scoreline.

The score was three hundred points to one hundred and forty, in Gryffindor's favour. Then, there was a sudden intake of breath from everyone in the stadium.

Ginny Weasley was dropping from the sky, like a bolt of lightning. The Ravenclaw seeker was right behind her, tearing through the air and desperate to get ahead.

A glint of gold flashed in front of them and the pair were almost side by side. The Ravenclaw seeker had caught up. Was almost ahead, but they were nearly at ground level now.

"Ye-e-es!" Screamed the Gryffindors.

David looked around at his fellow Hufflepuffs in disbelief.

"Four hundred and fifty to one hundred and forty. Three hundred and ten points difference." Moaned Ernie.

"They did it! They've got the cup."

It was a sad and doleful affair, back in the Hufflepuff common room. Nobody felt like eating. David felt empty inside and not even angry.

He looked up to see Susan coming towards him and he looked at her, his mind blank. She put her arms around him and lay her head on his shoulder. He couldn't think of anything to say except.

"Sorry."

She looked up and smiled at him, then closed her eyes and cuddled up closer. David put his arm around her and leaned his head against hers.

The scent of her hair and the warmth of her touch melted his heart again. How could he be angry with her? Was he trying to protect her, after what he had heard from the Dark Lord?

"Can we just have a few days in the week where we can do stuff on our own, instead of being together all the time?" He asked.

He felt Susan tense up a little, but then she relaxed.

"Do you want us to split up?" She said quietly.

"No." David replied softly.

"I just need a little space sometimes."

"You promise you're not going to finish with me?" She said nervously.

"I promise." He said.

"And to prove it I'll take you for lunch, the next time we go to Hogsmeade."

"I thought that you might have met someone else. Another girl?" Susan asked.

David grinned.

"Nothing like that. I'm completely under your spell."

"Good." She said.

"I wouldn't like to have to feed you with a love potion or two."

She grinned wickedly at him and they both laughed.

More Conversations Overheard

David and Susan agreed to have Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays to themselves and for the other days to be used for library and homework. Sunday would be a leisure day, where they would do something nice together.

David knew that he was disobeying the Dark Lord again, but he convinced himself that keeping to his room and avoiding other Hufflepuffs would look suspicious. He just wouldn't mention Susan to the Dark Lord again.

The gloom following Hufflepuff's bad luck in losing the quidditch cup to Gryffindor soon passed. David reflected that at least he had played in a real match, more than he could realistically have expected. Now, he was beginning to get excited at the thought of having more free time to follow Harry Potter.

One Wednesday afternoon in June, David and Susan had a most interesting lesson, in which Professor McGonagall had begun to explain the five exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.

"These are the basic laws that prevent a witch or wizard from obtaining essential elements for living, from thin air. It's the thing that stops us from doing whatever we please." Explained the Professor.

"Can you imagine a world where you never needed to make, build or grow anything? With unlimited power to make gold, food, water, air or life materialize whenever we wanted it, we would be gods."

The class sighed with disappointment.

"You only need to know that there are five exceptions. We'll cover them in greater detail next year."

"Will we be examined on them?" Asked Hermione Grainger.

David looked over at her and saw that her two friends were looking at something together under the desk and not paying attention.

"No, Miss Grainger. Next year, as I told you. We have now covered the full syllabus for this term and from now on, we will be revising topics covered already and going through past exam papers."

David sighed with relief. They had covered a lot of ground this year and he was glad that there was nothing else new to learn before the exams.

He watched Grainger and Potter, as Professor McGonagall burbled on in the background. Potter was telling the others that he was planning to meet up with Ginny Weasley during lunch, just before his Potions class.

At the mention of 'Potions', Hermione Grainger gave Harry a withering glance and muttered something under her breath.

There was a Charms lesson after the morning break and although David didn't get a chance to overhear Potter and his friends, he decided to take a cheeky trip into Dusty and to spy on Potter and Weasley during lunch.

He told Susan that he wasn't hungry and then he hurried off to his room. Susan said she'd see him later in the Care of Magical Creatures lesson.

David was annoyed to find that Dusty was missing and didn't get back for half an hour.

"Where have YOU been? He snapped and the bird cocked his head at him.

"I don't know what it is that you get out of staying here with me. You don't do a lot at all do you? And you never seem to want anything from me."

Dusty chirruped back and flapped his wings, but David could make no sense of it. He lay down on the bed and made the incantation.

Outside, the air was hot and dry. The June sun was high in the sky and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. David flew high in the air and flipped over and over, so that he could feel the breeze cooling down his feathers.

Without further ado he flew down to the lake, where several students were lolling on the grass or dipping their feet into the cold water. Harry and Ginny were sat under a large willow tree holding hands and looking out over the water.

"…When I've finished my Potions homework." David caught Harry telling her, as he landed in the tree and made his way along the branch above them.

"Yeah, I've still got to finish my essay on the Bedazzlement Potion. I just have to get together with Hermione this evening and go over a few points. She's much better at explaining than Professor Slughorn." She said.

"She's going to end up working here as a Professor." Laughed Harry.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea. I bet Dumbledore would say 'yes' if she asked him. She's knows more spells than a lot of the Professors here and she was so good at the D.A. meetings."

"Those were the days, eh?" Harry said.

"Yeah, I really miss us all getting together to fight against Umbridge." Said Ginny, with a hard look on her face.

Harry nodded and replied.

"I wonder what happened to the old hag?"

"Luna told me that she wants us to start up the meetings again, just as a get-together now and again. Can't we do it?" She implored.

"I just don't have the time nowadays." Harry said.

"What with Snape's detentions every Saturday and Dumbledore…"

"What IS it you have been doing with him?" She asked.

"You know can't tell you that." He smiled.

"It's something to do with Voldemort isn't it? Working against him?" She prodded.

"We could get Dumbledore's Army to fight HIM." She suggested.

"No way!" Harry choked.

"You don't understand how dangerous he is."

Ginny gave him an incredulous look.

"Sorry, I forgot about the Chamber of Secrets." He grinned sheepishly.

"You know what I mean, though. The whole of Dumbledore's army stood together side-by-side couldn't hope to fight against him. He's that powerful."

David listened to the conversation with interest and felt a thrill of horror at the easy way in which they spoke the Dark Lord's name, with complete disregard for him. David wouldn't dare to do that.

Their talk eventually meandered back to schoolwork and then the summer holidays. David didn't learn anything new, but had enjoyed this little excursion. He went back to his room and into his own body, while Harry began kissing Ginny gently.

David had the rest of the day off, so he spent it with Susan in the library doing their homework together.

The two of them had done very well over the course of the year. They had both averaged an 'E' for their essays and homework. In his muggle schools, David had never done very well at all. He had never had time to settle in one place, before he was moved from one family to another and so to a new school.

Having a friend like Susan had helped him to knuckle down and do the necessary reading and to put in the time writing up his work. Of course, it had seemed strange at first to be using a feather quill, ink and parchment.

When they were done, it was late and dinner was ready in the Great Hall. They hurried back to the Hufflepuff common room and dumped their bags and books on a sofa, then doubled back to the hall to get something to eat.

Susan was keeping her promise to let David have some time to himself at night during the week, so she went over to sit by Hannah Abbot and a few other girls. David sat beside Ernie MacMillan and they talked about quidditch. Ernie told David about his favourite team and how they had been doing that season.

David kept an eye on Harry Potter, waiting for him to leave, because he intended to go out again before it went dark and to spy on the Gryffindors.

Harry was talking to Colin Creavey, while Hermione Grainger was showing something in a book to his brother Dennis. Ron Weasley was laughing and joking with his sister Ginny.

David watched them for a while and something about the scene, the happy smiling faces and the camaraderie made him feel a little warmth inside. They actually looked like quite a friendly bunch.

He knew Colin and Dennis and liked them a lot. They had been good friends to him and they had a few laughs together when they went down to Hogsmeade. Maybe he could have got on okay with Harry Potter and his friends, if things had been different.

He'd spoken to him a few times and he was pleasant enough. More than that, he was polite and almost caring towards David who a newcomer in the school.

What had this boy done that made the Dark Lord so interested in him? He must be special in some way for Dumbledore to need him to fight against Voldemort. Maybe he was just like David himself? Maybe Dumbledore was using Potter to spy on Malfoy, in the same way that the Dark Lord was using him to spy on Potter?

Potter eventually got up and left, along with Ron and Hermione. David mirrored his movement and strolled back to his room. He locked the door and looked over at Dusty, who was sleeping on the back of the chair.

David tickled the bird on his head and he opened one yellow eye and looked back.

"Sorry I was so sharp earlier on, boy." He said softly.

Dusty blinked and stood up straight, stretching his back and opening out his wings. He then fluffed out his feathers and shook himself. David grinned.

"Fancy one last blast around the castle before bed?" He asked.

Dusty didn't reply, but looked back at David.

Once more, he was inside Dusty and creeping through the open window. Midges were zipping around in clouds over the lawn and for some reason, David flew into them with an open mouth and swallowed dozens in one gulp.

He realised that although he was in the 'driving seat', Dusty was still in there with him and that there was some bird-like desire to feed on the swarm of insects.

With a feeling of nausea, David steered himself upwards and away from the temptation of juicy flies. He wanted to get up to the Gryffindor tower and peer in through the window again.

As he reached his goal, he had sudden rush of adrenaline. Luck was with him. Harry Potter was there, right up against a window and it was open.

The window ledge extended further than the width of the frame, so it was possible for David to perch on it and to be out of sight of anyone inside and looking out. He was more worried about being recognised than anything else he could think of.

What excuse would he have for listening in on the Gryffindors? The quidditch season was over, so that excuse for spying was right out for a start. Luckily for him, nobody inside was looking outside.

The sun was starting to go down and it was beginning to get chilly. The sound of voices coming from within the Gryffindor common room came out loud and clear.

"I want to talk to you, Harry." Came the voice of Hermione Grainger.

"What about?" Replied Harry Potter, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"The so-called Half-Blood Prince." She continued.

David's heart beat faster. 'What on earth is this?' He asked himself.

Hermione continued to pursue the subject of the Half-Blood Prince with Harry. She mentioned that the Prince had invented 'Dark' spells and it sounded to David that Harry Potter had used some of these spells.

There was mention of a book and that Harry had hidden it. Grainger was trying to find out who the author of the book was and Potter wouldn't tell her. At least, that's what it sounded like to David.

Grainger left in a huff and Potter stayed, chatting with Ron Weasley.

"She's just never got over you outperforming her in Potions." Weasley was saying.

"You don't think I'm mad, wanting that book back, do you?" Asked Harry.

"Course not…" Ron assured him and told Harry that he owed his life to the Prince.

Then, to David's utter astonishment, Ron said.

"I'm not saying that spell you used on Malfoy was great…"

David did a double-take and then actually peered in through the corner of the window. Potter was learning Dark magic from Dumbledore, using an illegal book he had hidden somewhere.

The two Gryffindors then talked about Harry's detention with Professor Snape. It sounded like a horribly boring way to spend your Saturday afternoons.

Suddenly, a young boy came over and handed a small scroll of parchment to Harry. He waited for the boy to disappear, before turning to Ron and exclaiming.

"…Its' from Dumbledore! He wants me to go to his office as quick as I can!"

"Blimey." Whispered Ron.

"You don't reckon… He hasn't found...?"

"Better go and see, hadn't I?" Said Harry and jumped up and away.

David got the fright of his life, as Ron Weasley turned and looked out through the window, with his nose pressed right up to the glass. He didn't look down and see David, though. He was looking out over the lawns towards the dark forest.

When Ron turned away, David slipped down and towards the front entrance. He wanted to wait and see if Dumbledore and Potter would come out.

From somewhere up above, he heard a crash like the breaking of glass and the shriek of a woman. He could also hear raised voices echoing down the staircase inside. 'What on earth is going on, now?'

It was the voice of Potter and he was shouting at someone. 'You stay here!' Or something like that.

There was then a long silence and in the meantime, the sun disappeared and the light of the moon filled the doorway.

Next thing, there was the raised voice of Harry Potter again. This time it was coming from somewhere up above. 'Potter must be in the Headmaster's office.' David thought. 'He's shouting about Voldemort now'.

Things went quiet again and David was just about to fly back to his room, when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching from inside. There was the soft swish of a cloak and Albert Dumbledore stepped out of the doorway and onto the front step.

David held his breath, as the Headmaster stood there waiting. Dumbledore looked back into the castle, then turned towards the castle grounds. He held up his hands to the light of the moon and seemed to be examining them.

David noticed, with a creeping horror, that one of them looked dark and shrivelled compared to the other. This was what the Headmaster was obviously contemplating.

Suddenly, there was a sound from out in the darkness and a pair of broomsticks glided down and landed at the foot of the school steps. Two people wrapped up against the cold, stepped off the brooms and hurried up to Dumbledore.

"Ahh, Remus, Bill. So glad you were able to get here so quickly." Said Dumbledore and shook their hands.

"Nymphadora is already here. Go to the staff room and get yourselves a hot drink. Hot chocolate is the best pick-me-up after a chilly flight. I hope to be back in a couple of hours, with any luck."

The two strangers thanked him and they made their way inside the castle.

Minutes later, at the sound of someone rushing along the corridor inside, Dumbledore turned as Harry Potter skidded through the doorway.

"I would like you to wear your cloak, please." He told him.

With that, Harry pulled the invisibility cloak over him and Dumbledore strode down the steps.

David heard Harry asking Dumbledore what people would think about him leaving the school and the Headmaster replying.

"That I am off into Hogsmeade for a drink." He replied and the sound of conversation between the two disappeared into the gloom.

Full of glee, David went straight back to his room and back into his body. He grabbed the crystal ball from his trunk and jumped onto the bed. He had one thought in mind. To conjure up the Dark Lord and tell him the news.

To David's astonishment, the Dark Lord appeared almost instantaneously and he had a gleam in his yellow eyes.

"Yes, apprentice? What is your news?"

"It's Dumbledore, my Lord. He just left the castle with Harry Potter."

"Excellent!" Said Voldemort, with a look of triumph.

"He's been teaching Dark magic to Potter. I heard him telling someone else." David continued.

"There is a secret book that Potter keeps hidden. He used one of the spells on Draco Malfoy and nearly killed him."

"Malfoy?" Said Voldemort, in surprise.

"I wonder if he suspects? But surely Dumbledore would never allow the Potter boy to…?"

" Potter's friend asked him if Dumbledore had found someone. I think they know where you are and they have set out to find you tonight." Said David, worriedly.

Voldemort's eyes flashed, but then he laughed grimly.

"Let him find me. I am ready to do battle."

David flushed with pride at the Dark Lord's lack of fear.

"All of my enemies will be dealt with, in due course." Voldemort said.

"Some others turned up just before Dumbledore left." David remembered.

"I think they were called Remus and Bill… and there is someone else in the castle called Nymphadora, or something."

"Yes, the half-breed werewolf and other members of the Order of the Phoenix. They will pose no problems for my Death-Eaters."

"No problems? What do you mean?" Asked David.

"Stay in your room and you will be safe." Said Voldemort.

"Safe! What's going to happen?" David exclaimed.

"You have done well, apprentice. You have the thanks of your Master. Ask no more questions. Consider your task fulfilled for now and I will contact you with further instructions in the near future."

With that, the crystal ball went clear.

"Wait! Wait!" Called David, but there was no more response.

The Dark Lord Strikes

David's blood ran cold for an instant. 'What have I done?' He thought. 'Stay safe here in my room? What is he planning for tonight?'

He rushed out into the common room, but it was largely empty. Susan wasn't there and David couldn't go into the girls' dormitory to talk to her. He was beginning to panic. He needed to make sure that she was safe.

He saw Ernie MacMillan sitting by the fire in his pyjamas, reading a book.

"Hey, Ernie. Have you seen Susan anywhere tonight?"

"Last time I saw her, she was heading up to the library with Hannah to take back a few books." He replied.

David's eyes widened with fear.

"Is anything wrong?" Asked Ernie.

"I dunno." Said David.

"I just have a funny feeling, that's all."

Ernie raised an eyebrow, but sat back and continued in his reading.

David ran out of the common room and sprinted along the corridor and out into the great hall. His footsteps rang and echoed hollowly around him, as he sprinted through it.

He had climbed up two flights of stairs, when he met Susan and Hannah coming downwards towards him. The two girls looked at him and giggle to each other, as David bent over and tried to catch his breath.

"Hi there." He wheezed.

The girls laughed and taking an arm each, they led him back down the stairs.

By the time they reached the entrance hall, David had recovered his composure. He put an arm around each of the girl's shoulders and ushered them back towards their common room.

"Where would I be without you girls?" He said, in relief.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Giggled Hannah.

"Ohh, I wouldn't say that." Countered Susan and ruffled David's hair.

"How about a quick mug of cocoa and a biscuit before we turn in?" He suggested.

"Sure." Replied the girls.

"Who do we have to ask?" Said David, wondering who it was that organised snacks and supper in the castle.

"It'll be here soon, anyway." Said Susan, looking at her wristwatch and almost at the same time jugs of milk, plates of muffins, crumpets and biscuits, pots of cocoa, tea and hot chocolate appeared on the tables.

Students from each of the houses drifted in and began to sit and nibble, or take a drink and food back to their common room. Ernie came in, yawning and scratching his head.

"You managed to find them, then?" He said and sat down with them.

They were all into their second mugs of cocoa, when there was a terrific noise from somewhere upstairs. It was the sound of an explosion.

They looked at each other and strained their ears for anything further. They didn't have to wait long. Rumbling and shouting could be heard and the occasional 'crack' of a spell hitting something solid.

"Sounds like fighting, or something up on the higher levels." Said Ernie.

"Let's get the girls back into the common room." Said David.

They all agreed and the rest of the students in the hall also made their ways back to their respective common rooms.

Once they were back in the relative safety of the Hufflepuff common room, they wanted to know what was going on upstairs.

"Wait here." Said David.

"I'll get Dusty to go and take a look for us."

They watched and waited in anticipation, as David ran off to his room.

'I'll just take a quick spin around the castle. Two minutes.' He told himself.

He was inside Dusty and out of the window in less than a minute. He swept around the foot of the castle walls and then upwards, where he saw an incredible sight.

High above the school was a greenish cloud in the terrifying shape of a skull, with a huge serpent coming out of the mouth and twisting around it.

Through the windows of the corridor on the seventh floor, David saw flashes of green and red. Someone in there was casting spells. It looked as if a pitched battle was taking place.

There were also flashes of light coming from within one of the towers, the same tower above which the skull was glowing.

David wasted no time in returning to his room and then hurrying back to report to the others.

"There's a huge cloud hanging over the castle. It was really weird, in the shape of a skull and snake. It wasn't natural, it looks like it must have been conjured up by someone."

"The Dark Mark!" Gasped Susan, in horror.

"You know what it is?" Asked David, amazed.

"It's what Death-Eaters use to let people know that they have killed someone. They leave it hanging over the building, as a warning to others." She said and put her hand over her mouth.

"There must be Death-Eaters in the castle!" Ernie cried.

"We need to alert the Staff and the rest of the D.A."

"I think everyone must know that something is up, by now." Said David.

"That explosion rocked the whole school."

"Do you still have your Contact Galleon?" Ernie said to Susan.

"A what?" Asked David.

"Yes, it's back in my room. I'll go and get it." She said and rushed off.

"It's how we used to contact each other when we were in the D.A." Ernie explained.

"If it gets hot, then we know that a meeting has been arranged. I lost mine over the summer last year."

Susan came back and shouted excitedly.

"It's HOT! Meeting, today, right now!" She gabbled.

They all looked at each other.

"Do we go, or do we stay here?" Ernie asked the others.

"I dunno." Said David nervously.

"Where is the meeting meant to be?"

"It doesn't tell us that." Susan answered.

"We always had our meetings in the Room of Requirement."

"Let's head up there, then." Ernie suggested.

"If the others are there, then we can make a plan of action. Otherwise, we'll come back down here."

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Said David.

"Oh come on, David." Hannah said excitedly.

"This is just what we D.A. members have been waiting for all this year."

At that moment, Biggins appeared and called out to the whole common room.

"Everyone back in their beds! Especially first years. We need to wait here for Professor Sprout to tell us what's happening."

David looked around and realised that almost every Hufflepuff was now gathered in the common room, in their night clothes.

"We're going out to take a look, Biggins." Ernie told him.

"You keep everyone here and we'll come back as soon as we can."

"It's on your own head, MacMillan." Biggins warned him.

Ernie nodded and he, David and the two girls went through the entrance door.

"Lock it behind us, Biggins and don't let ANYONE inside except us. The password is 'Badger', okay?"

Biggins nodded and they shut the door behind them.

"Up to the seventh floor then." Ernie said and gave them all a look of slight fear.

They raced along to the staircase and began to climb. It was a long way up and they stopped on the fourth floor for a quick breather.

"Quietly now, I can hear voices." Said David and he drew his wand out.

The others did likewise. Sure enough, the sound of shouting was getting louder. They hurried upwards and as they reached the seventh floor. They ran along the corridor and to the bend, where they were confronted by the sight of four figures in black robes and masks.

They figures had their backs to David and the others. They were duelling a pair of wizards and the air was filled with the smell of ozone and light.

David noticed that the door to the hidden room was ajar. The Death-Eaters must have come out of it.

"Hey!" Shouted Ernie and the Death-Eaters looked around at the students.

""Behind you!" Screamed one of the figures to another and he hurled a hex at Hannah.

David pushed her out of the way and deflected the spell onto a painting on the wall. It burst into flames.

Immediately, Ernie and Susan began to cast spells towards the Death-Eaters.

"Stupefy!" They both screamed.

The one who had cast a spell at Hannah jumped sideways through the open door, while another one with his back to them slumped to the floor.

The red streak of a stunning spell had hit him right in the middle of his back.

The two remaining Death-Eaters realised that they were surrounded and thinking that they stood more of a chance against the students, they turned from their duels and fled towards them.

They cast spell after spell recklessly at David and the others, who dodged and shielded themselves. The third Death-Eater jumped out as they passed him and the three of them together burst past the Hufflepuffs and sprinted towards the staircase.

The two wizards hurried up to the students and said.

"What are you doing up here? Get back to your common room at once!"

"What's going on?" Asked David.

"No time for explanations. Don't be foolish and come back down behind us." One of them said.

"Professor Lupin!" Exclaimed Susan.

"Come, now!" He cried and pulled her along for a short distance, before letting go of her and chasing after his partner.

The Hufflepuffs dashed after him, but David suddenly stopped and turned back. He ran towards the door to the hidden room. He wanted to take a quick look inside.

He stepped over the comatose body of the Death-Eater and peered in through the doorway. Inside, there wasn't a room. It was more like a huge chamber, filled with rows of shelves.

It was dimly lit, but he could see piles of items inside. It looked like a junk shop that David had once gone into. Everything looked dirty and dusty. 'What on earth had Malfoy been doing, hanging around in a place like this?' He asked himself. "And where did those Death-Eaters come from?'

The sound of a young girl screaming brought David to his senses. Somewhere below and in the opposite direction from which he had come.

Forgetting about Susan and the others, his instinct was to go and help the girl in trouble.

Around the next corner, however, his way was impeded by what seemed to be a black cloud filling the corridor. David took a huge breath and then inched his way into the darkness. He stumbled blindly, trying to use the corridor wall to feel his way through the cloud.

Eventually, he reached the edge of the cloud and came back out into the light. It was beginning to dissipate at its edge, but it would take a little time for it to disappear completely.

David followed the sound of fighting and went down more staircases and corridors until he came out in a more open area. It was at the base of one of the castle towers.

The sight that met his eyes was unbelievable. There were dozens of people duelling and wrestling with each other. There were crashes and the fizzing of curses everywhere.

He recognised a few students, including Ginny Weasley and there were several of the Professors there as well. He watched in awe, as the duellists wheeled and spun.

A large Death-Eater with blond hair hanging from his hood was casting spells with immense power. They caused blasts wherever they hit, on the walls and statues.

One flash headed towards David and he instinctively swerved his head backwards, as it flew past his nose. He then saw a short, but broad, Death-Eater jump behind Professor McGonagall and aim his wand at her.

"Over here!" Shouted David and the Death-Eater turned and cried.

"Impedimenta!"

A yellow streak came towards David, as he cart-wheeled sideways and crouched low.

"Immodio!" Cried David and his curse flew at the Death-Eater.

His opponent used a shield spell to deflect the spell onto a window, which shattered brilliantly.

David dodged and used his own shield charm to deflect two more curses in fast procession. The duel seemed to be happening in slow motion for him. He was fighting the Death-Eater, but at the same time he could see the other wizards and witches attacking and defending.

"Stupefy!" Shouted David, as he crouched and pointed his wand with both hands.

The spell hit the Death-Eater in the midriff and he somersaulted backwards and over another body lying prone on the floor.

"Gotcha!" Said David and grinned with satisfaction.

Suddenly, David saw Professor Snape appear from nowhere and at his side was Draco Malfoy. The pair of them looked around and Snape shouted.

"It's over, time to go!"

There was an almighty crash and David was bundled over backwards by a falling Professor McGonagall. She wasn't hit, she had slipped over backwards. There was blood or something on the floor.

She jumped back up with a grace that surprised David, but she had jabbed him in the stomach with her elbow and he was too winded to stand up.

He lay there and looked up again, to see Harry Potter leap into the fray and start firing spells at the combatants. He seemed to be wild with anger, his face drawn and white as if in shock.

David was amazed at the fearlessness of Harry, in the face of such opposition. But this allowed one of the Death-Eaters to jump on Harry unexpectedly. A huge shadow knocked him over and bore down on him.

David's cry of warning was too late, but before the Death-Eater could finish off Harry, Ginny Weasley's spell hit him.

"Petrificus Totalus!" She screamed and the Death-Eater slumped down on top of Harry.

David got back up and began casting spells at anyone who looked like a Death-Eater. He was trying to be careful not to hit anyone from Hogwarts and it wasn't easy, because of the noise and utter bedlam of the battle.

Suddenly, one of the Death-Eaters shouted to the others.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

There was a flurry of spells and the Death-Eaters fled as best they could. Some went back up the stairs towards the hidden room, while others backed down the corridor where Harry Potter had just rushed after Snape and Malfoy.

"Get them!" Called Professor McGonagall and everyone did their best to try and chase down the Death-Eaters.

They were sending curses backwards and blasting the walls as they fled, so the Professors, members of the Order of the Phoenix and David and the other students could only move slowly forwards.

They eventually reached the entrance, where David found Ernie, Susan and Hannah peering out from the Great Hall doorway.

"Oh, thank God your alive!" Cried Susan and ran over to David and hugged him tightly.

"Are you all okay?" Asked David.

"Yeah." Said Ernie.

"We hung about on the staircase for ages, waiting for you to catch us up. Where did you go?"

"I went the other way and bumped into the Death-Eaters." Said David.

Susan gasped with shock.

"The Professors and your D.A. friends were fighting them at the foot of a tower at the other end of the castle." David told them.

"You should have seen Professor McGonagall. She was unbelievable, fighting two people at the same time. Then Draco Malfoy turned up, with Professor Snape and they ran off this way. The Death-Eaters started chasing them and Harry Potter ran after THEM, on his own!"

"He passed us on his way out!" Said Ernie.

Susan held his hand and looked into his eyes and David looked back at her determinedly. The four of them then went to the front door and looked out over the castle grounds.

There were cries in the distance and the red glow of a fiercely burning fire could be seen.

"Ohh my!" Squealed Hannah.

"It looks like Professor Hagrid's hut is on fire.

They all stared in disbelief.

There was a sound behind them and they saw that the rest of the Hufflepuffs were coming out of the Great Hall, led by Biggins.

"Where is Professor Dumbledore?" He asked them.

"We don't know." Said Hannah.

"Did you see him, David?" Asked Susan.

"No." He replied.

More students now started filling the entrance hall and Argus Filch appeared, waving a broomstick in the air.

"Make way, make way." He called and pushed his way through the crowd.

He went out into the dark, calling.

"Professor McGonagall, Professor…"

"Come on, let's see what's happening." Said Ernie and stepped outside too.

The cold air gripped them and Susan snuggled closer to David as the group of students made their way down the steps. They could make out Harry Potter and Hagrid walking towards them. In the far distance, Hagrid's hut was smoking and steaming.

A shout and scream from around the side made David and the others hurry over the lawn to see what was going on.

There, lying still and silent on the ground was the unmistakable body of Albus Dumbledore. David's eyes grew wide and there were more screams and gasps of horror from the students as they too saw him dead and broken.

Susan burst into tears and sobbed unrestrainedly onto David's shoulder. He caressed her head tenderly, but inside he felt a kind of exhilaration. The Dark Lord had achieved his aim.

Everybody gathered around the body and stared in disbelief. Girls began sobbing uncontrollably and even some of the Professors wept openly. David stood mute and transfixed by the body.

Dumbledore looked mostly untouched by the fall, but his glasses were awry and broken. Then, Harry Potter suddenly broke through the crowd and fell onto his knees over the body. He was mumbling incoherently to himself and reaching out to touch the old Headmaster. A hard feeling came over David at this sight. He didn't feel sorry for Harry at all.

Eventually, Professor McGonagall had gathered herself together and with the help of Professor Sprout, began to usher the students away from the body and back towards the castle.

David got caught up in the milling mass of people and lost sight of Potter and Dumbledore. He turned and decided that there was no more to be seen that night.

They passed back into the entrance hall and saw Professor Flitwick being helped along by Madam Pomfrey. He looked as if he had been stunned and was still unsteady on his short legs.

David took Susan back to the Hufflepuff common room and after seeing her safely to the entrance to the girls' dormitories, he hurried back to his own room. He knew what he had to do now. Tell the Dark Lord what had happened.

He locked the door and got onto the bed, with the crystal ball held out in his open palm. A touch with his wand and then he waited.

After ten minutes of anxiously sitting there, the Dark Lord came into view. He had a look of great expectation and barely hidden excitement about him.

"Yes? What news, Apprentice?"

"Dumbledore is dead!" Said David with grim satisfaction.

Voldemort's face lit with joy and he screamed out loud.

"Victory is mine!" He shouted, with a terrifyingly high-pitched wail that made the hairs stand up on David's neck.

"I knew that the old fool would make one too many mistakes. How did it happen?"

David admitted that he hadn't seen him being killed, but that his body was lying at the foot of a high tower.

"My Death-Eaters will return soon and I will know the full truth, but this is the BEST news."

"I shall reward his killer most highly." Said Voldemort and grinned evilly.

David shivered at the sight of the Dark Lord in such an agitated state of excitement. He then told him the whole story of what he had done and seen that night.

"I gave you orders to stay out of trouble!" Snapped Voldemort.

"You could have ruined everything! Your blundering attempts to protect your girlfriend could have cost me dearly."

David now felt very scared. The Dark Lord was spitting venom in his fury.

"That girl needs to be taken care of. She knows too much about you."

"My Lord?" David blurted out.

"I need to get rid of her and that French boy who keeps sending letters to you at Hogwarts."

"You aren't going to kill Susan, are you?" Squeaked David.

Voldemort changed in a split second and his face suddenly became inscrutable.

"Of course not. I think that she would be very useful to us."

David gave a huge sigh or relief inside, but something about the Dark Lord's eyes made him still uncertain.

"I can modify their memories quite easily." Voldemort continued sweetly, but his eyes glowed yellow.

"I will send for you immediately and you will go back to the Maison and await me there."

"Yes, my Lord." Said David.

Straight away, Voldemort began to move slowly backwards and he raised his head up again and gave a victory cry.

David's heart was yammering in his chest and he threw the crystal ball back into the trunk, where it landed with a dull 'thunk'.

He looked around the room and saw Dusty preening himself on the back of the chair, his favourite perch.

"What have I said?" He asked the quivering bird.

"What have I done?"

Back to the Maison

For the next few days, everyone was subdued in the school. Even Peeves the poltergeist maintained a suitably sombre disposition. That is, until he happened to come across an open tin of paint left in a corridor. Argus Filch had been attempting to repair some of the damage done to the school walls by the firefight.

Unfortunately, he forgot to take the grey wall paint back to his cupboard and Peeves obligingly left it balanced over a classroom door. Wally Fripp, a second-year Ravenclaw, had been the unlucky recipient of the falling paint.

He had to visit Madam Pomfrey, to have his head unpainted and the large accompanying bump removed.

David also learned from Dennis Creavey, that Ron Weasley's brother Bill had been injured by a werewolf during the fighting.

"Has anyone seen Draco Malfoy since the incident?" He asked Dennis.

"No. It seems that Malfoy ran off with Professor Snape, along with the Death-Eaters." Dennis told him.

"They haven't been seen since. The rumour is, that Snape killed Dumbledore and Harry Potter saw it happen."

"So, what did Malfoy have to do with it?" David continued to ask.

"Harry says that Malfoy was the one who let the Death-Eaters into the school in the first place."

"What?!" Exclaimed David.

"It's true." Said Dennis.

"He had some 'back door' into the school, operating from inside the Room of Requirement."

David shook his head to clear the cobwebs.

"That would explain why Potter was keeping an eye on the hidden room." He muttered to himself.

"Yes. Harry told us that he had been telling Dumbledore that Malfoy was up to something, but he kept ignoring his warnings."

"The old fool." David repeated, after remembering what the Dark Lord had said.

Dennis nodded in agreement and put his hand on David's shoulder.

"There's going to be a big funeral service for Dumbledore. All of his friends and the top brass will be coming. The Minister of Magic and many important witches and wizards."

"I've never been to a funeral before." Said David blankly.

"I think that the Beauxbatons Headmistress is coming too." Said Dennis, smiling at David.

"You'll be able to have a good chat with her. In French, for a change." He added.

David suddenly froze.

'Oh no. What will happen when she gets here and asks to meet me? She'll recognise that I'm not David straight away'. David thought to himself and gulped.

All through Dinner that night, David sat worrying about the prospect of meeting Madame Maxime. He hardly touched his roasted potatoes and chicken.

"You're quiet." Said Susan soothingly and stroked his arm.

"A lot has happened these last few weeks." Said David and looked into her dark blue eyes.

"I wouldn't ever want to lose you." He said.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek and the warmth of it thrilled his whole body.

"I'm not going anywhere in particular just yet." She assured him.

David thought about the Dark Lord's words in the crystal ball and another jolt of energy coursed up and down his spine.

"I may have to leave Hogwarts soon." He told her.

"What?!" She cried out loud and a few people around them looked at her.

"Only to go back to France for a while." He said.

"I've had word from... my parents." He mumbled.

Saying the word 'parents' had stuck in his throat.

"They are worried about me and just want me back there."

"When?" Asked Susan quietly.

"I'm not sure exactly, but soon is all I know."

He looked at her sadly and put his arms around her. Once again her eyes filled with huge tears that rolled down her cheeks and onto his shoulder.

"I knew you would say this sometime, but I thought it would be later rather than sooner." She cried.

"Don't worry. We won't lose touch and I promise that I'll come back over as soon as possible and visit you." David tried to assure her.

"Promise?" Susan sniffed.

"I promise." Said David and kissed her gently on the lips.

"And we can forget this midweek-on-our-own stuff." He continued.

"Let's spend as much time as we have left together, doing all the things that YOU want to do with me." He smiled.

"I'll even treat you to lunch at Madam Puddifoot's."

Susan beamed happily at him.

"Well, if that's as much as I can expect out of you, then it will have to do." She grinned and wiped the last few tears from her face.

So, the next day being Saturday, they headed out of Hogwarts and down to Hogsmeade. They visited Madam Puddifoot's Teashop, as David had promised and enjoyed a cream tea with scones and raspberry jam.

They also made a stop at the Hog's Head Inn for a butterbeer. The Three Broomsticks Inn was locked up and had a huge red sign outside, with white letters saying.

CLOSED - BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC - UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

When Susan picked up a small stone and tossed it towards the door of the inn, it crackled and exploded into a cloud of dust.

"Anti-intruder jinx, I think." She said and raised an eyebrow at David.

"Wow. Good job I didn't try the door handle." He said.

Susan then took him towards the edge of town and to the 'Shrieking Shack'.

David was disappointed that there was no sound of shrieking, or of objects being mysteriously thrown about the place.

"Doesn't sound very shrieky to me." He grinned at Susan and she pinched his arm in revenge.

It had been a good day to visit the village and the weather had kept dry, although there had been some cloud in the sky. It was still warm for the time of year.

They strolled leisurely back to the school, buying huge chocolate ice-creams from Honeydukes, to eat along the way.

"I wish every day could be like this." Said Susan happily.

"Me too." Agreed David.

"Although, this ice-cream has just melted all down my best t-shirt." He sighed and showed the brown stain to Susan.

"Typical messy boy." She chided and then drew out her wand.

"Scourgify!" She called and the brown liquid retreated backwards out of the cloth and then disappeared.

"I wonder where it all goes?" David said, admiring the clean t-shirt.

"Into nothingness." Said Susan.

"And that means, everything." She finished with a flourish of her wand.

"Where did you get THAT one from?" Asked David in amusement.

"Any half-trollbrain knows that." Susan grinned.

"Professor McGonagall taught us, the very first lesson of Vanishment. Didn't you ever pay attention in class?" She laughed.

David pulled a 'dumb' face and chased her back towards the castle, along the road.

Along their way came across Zacharias Smith, who was walking towards them, accompanied by a wizard they didn't recognise.

"Hi." They said to Zacharias.

"What's going on?"

"Zacharias is leaving school until I feel that it is safe enough for him to return." Said the haughty man sternly.

Zacharias looked at them and then looked down at the floor. He was obviously upset at having to leave.

"I guess I'll see you next year." He said gloomily.

David held out a hand to him and on seeing it, Zacharias looked up and managed a weak smile.

"Good luck, mate." He told David.

"It was great to fly with you in the team. If you're here next year, then I can assure you that there'll be place for you again."

"That would be fantastic." David replied.

"Have a good summer."

He held out his hand towards Zacharias' father, who shook it with one short tug.

The pair of them then continued down the road towards the village, leaving David and Susan standing there watching them go.

"There's only going to be me left here soon." She said.

"I guess a lot of parents are scared for their kids now." David told her.

"No worries there for me, then." She replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry Sue." Said David and gave her a hug.

"It's going to be really boring without you here." She moaned.

"Maybe I can think of a way that we can keep in touch." He said, consoling her and thinking that he might be able to ask the Dark Lord if he could borrow the other crystal ball from him.

They got back to the castle and went to their rooms to get a quick wash and clean-up. David was surprised to find a large brown owl standing on the back of Dusty's favourite chair and Dusty standing on the table, looking incredible put-out.

There was a message attached to one of its legs, which it held out towards him. He untied the parchment and the owl opened its wings, before taking off lazily and squeezing through the open window. Dusty jumped up and took a sneaky peck at its tail feathers, as it passed him by.

"Come in, number four. Your time is up." Said David miserably.

He read the message on the parchment out loud to Dusty.

"**You are returning home on Saturday evening at 8.00pm. Pack your belongings and leave nothing behind. The Hogwarts staff have been informed that you are leaving early and they will arrange transport."**

That left him only three hours to pack up, say goodbye to Susan and get down to Hogsmeade.

So, he spent half an hour filling the trunk with everything that he owned. He took the crystal ball, however, and put that in his pocket. Then, he went out into the common room to wait for Susan.

He was surprised to find Professor Sprout entering the room and she smiled widely on seeing him.

"Professor?" He said.

"Well, it's been nice meeting and teaching you, David." She said.

"I'm sorry that you're leaving a little early, but there are no exams and there is nothing left to cover in each of your subjects."

David smiled weakly.

"The school will forward you and your belongings to King's Cross Station, when you have packed."

"I've already done that, Professor." He told her.

"My trunk is ready to go. It's just in my room. How am I going to get there?"

"You will travel by Floo powder from the Headmaster's Office." She said.

"You will be met by your parents at an office in King's Cross."

David looked at her, but didn't reply. He was wondering which 'parents' were coming to meet him.

"Good luck and I hope to see you again." Said the Professor and she shook his hand vigorously.

David had been stunned by the speed at which his return had suddenly come about, but he still noticed that Professor Sprout's hand was hard and callused. Obviously, from handling dragon dung and tough magical weeds over all those years.

"Thanks. I've really enjoyed myself here and please say 'thank you' to all the other Professors who taught me this year." He finally managed.

Professor Sprout took it that David was a little abashed at saying this and she smiled warmly.

"You've done your school very proud, you know. The other Professors and I have all been impressed by your attitude in class and the way that you have blended in at Hogwarts. We will certainly be telling the Beauxbatons Headmistress, when she arrives for Dumbledore's funeral."

David thanked her again, for her kindness.

"There's one small thing I'd like to give you, before you go. It's a personal little gift from myself and on behalf of Hufflepuff House."

She took out of her pocket, a small black box and gave it to David.

He opened it up and there, sitting on a velvet cushion, was a silver badge in the shape and with enamelled colours of Hufflepuff House.

"Just a little keepsake." Said Professor Sprout.

David looked at it happily and then, with a sudden rush of blood, he leaned over and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you very much." He said.

The Professor blushed as red as a quaffle and giggling to herself she turned and left. At the door, she called over to him.

"Be at the gryphon statues of the Headmaster's Office for eight o'clock."

When Susan came out into the common room and David told her what was going on, she burst out crying and hugged him tightly.

They sat together by one of the windows and watched the sun going slowly down behind the distant mountains. They chatted about the times that they had together over the months and about Susan's plans for the rest of term. They talked for an hour, before going down to the Great Hall for dinner.

David went to get Dusty first and then they made their way out of the Hufflepuff common room for the final time. David took one last long look around the place before he closed the door quietly behind him.

They weren't very hungry and ate little. Dusty kept them amused by picking up peanuts and then flying high into the roof of the hall and dropping them onto the students of other houses.

David was slightly cheered when Colin and Dennis Creavey came over and gave him their best wishes. They had overheard Biggins giving an excruciatingly embarrassing speech on behalf of the Hufflepuffs, telling David that he was officially accepted as one of them.

There were tears all round from some of the girls, especially Hannah Abbot and handshakes and slaps on the back from the boys.

Finally, at ten to eight, David took hold of Susan's hand and called Dusty to him. They left the Great Hall and stopped in the Entrance. David turned to Susan.

"I never told you this, but I want you to know." He began.

Susan looked up at him with her eyes wet and shining.

"I love you. I've loved you from the very first day that we met. I just didn't know how to say it."

Susan threw her arms around his neck and kissed him like she had never done before. It was full of feeling and happiness.

"I love you too, you big French loaf of bread." She grinned happily.

"Let me give you this, before I go." He said and pulled the crystal ball out of his pocket."

"It's lovely." She said, a little puzzled at this strange gift.

"It's not just a crystal ball, though." He continued.

"It's a way that we can keep in touch when I'm in France."

"What!?" She said, stunned.

"If you hold it and tap it with your wand, I'll know that you want to chat."

Susan smiled with joy and took it.

"Just don't use it until I've got the other one and contacted YOU first."

She nodded and put it safely in her own pocket. They then hugged each other tightly and then David ran up the staircase, looking back at Susan's face and waving to her. She continued waving back until David had disappeared.

With a thrill of anticipation, David hurried along to the corridor where the gargoyle was silently waiting. It was only a minute before the gargoyle jumped aside to reveal the spiral staircase revolving and Professor McGonagall coming down.

"Good evening, David." She greeted him.

"Good evening, Professor." He replied.

She took him up to the office above and there was his trunk, at the side of the large fireplace. Professor McGonagall then whipped out her wand and flicked it towards the trunk. It lifted up into the air and hovered in front of the blazing fire.

"Could you do me a favour, David and throw a handful of Floo powder into the fire?" She said to him.

David saw the jar of glittering powder that the Professor was nodding at. He took a large handful and flung it into the centre of the fire, causing huge green flames to spurt upwards.

The Professor flicked her wand and David's trunk floated into the fire.

"King's Cross Station!" She called and the trunk disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

The flames continued to roar and swirl.

"Well, David. I think there is enough left for you to jump in right now." She said and looked him up and down.

"Good luck and I hope that you remember Hogwarts with happy thoughts. Hurry now, before the flames die down."

"Goodbye Professor and thank you for everything." He replied and gave her hand a quick shake.

He climbed into the fire and looked back at her. The last thing he saw, as he spoke the words 'King's Cross Station', was a portrait on the wall behind Professor McGonagall. Dusty gave a short and mournful 'caw'.

It was Dumbledore and he was waving goodbye to David. David raised a hand in farewell and then he began to spin and move through space. The next thing he knew was that he was standing in a fireplace in an unfamiliar grey-walled office.

Standing in front of him were two strangers, a man and a woman wearing Muggle attire. David stepped out of the fire and waited for one of them to speak.

Eventually, the man walked forward and held out a hand.

"My name is Rodolphus, Rodolphus Lestrange and this is Fenella Burrows. The Dark Lord has commanded us to take you to my home, where he will meet us later."

David looked at the man who bore no resemblance at all to the Rodolphus that he knew.

"I know Rodolphus Lestrange." He said cautiously and gripped the wand in his pocket.

"He looks nothing like you."

"We have been transformed using Polyjuice potion." Rodolphus explained.

David breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little.

"This old kettle is a port key and it will be leaving in two minutes. Grab a hold of your trunk and the kettle too."

"Are you both coming too?" Asked David.

"No. Only I will accompany you there. Fenella will remain here to tidy up after we have left. She was only instructed to prepare the fireplace and to bring the port key here. We were told not to ask you your name or where you have come from."

David looked at him strangely, but then did as he was told and then waited. He looked around at the office. The windows were of misted glass, but he could see a few people wandering past outside.

He wondered what part of King's Cross Station he was in. Suddenly, a picture on the wall of a train reminded him of the portrait of Dumbledore he had just seen. He then wondered what had happened to Dumbledore's familiar, the phoenix.

The kettle began to glow around the edges and David looked up at Rodolphus, who looked back blankly. It was obvious that he had no memory of meeting David at the Maison and of training him in self-defence.

The huge tug starting behind David's navel enveloped his whole body and the room disappeared in a whirling mass of colour. He felt light-headed and almost dizzy as he fell through non-space and landed back in the familiar dark sitting-room of the Maison des Charmes.

Dusty flittered quietly from his shoulder and took up his usual place on top of the curtain rail.

Standing there, with a look of terror on her face and her pink eyes glowing with fear, was Pinky the house-elf. David didn't notice this, he only saw his friend waiting for him by the fireplace.

As soon as he had recovered his balance he rushed over to her and knelt down, throwing his arms around her neck and giving her a hug. He was slightly surprised by the fact that she did not respond, but stood as still as stone.

"How very touching." Came a snake-like whisper from behind him.

David stood and whirled around to find Lord Voldemort standing by the window. Rodolphus walked over and stood beside him.

David realised that the Dark Lord was waiting for a response, so he walked over and knelt in front of him. He picked up the hem of Voldemort's robes and kissed it.

"It was a long time in preparation, but my plan finally came to fruition. Dumbledore is dead and you were of some small help to me." He said to David.

"Thank you, my Lord." David replied, but for some reason he felt nervous.

"I can sense that you are unhappy with something." Voldemort continued.

"What is it that you are keeping to yourself?"

Suddenly, David felt a weird sensation in his mind. It was as if he was being squeezed and his memories were tumbling over and over inside.

He remembered the face of Susan. Remembered kissing her in the Entrance Hall at Hogwarts. Remembered giving her the crystal ball. It was that thought which was foremost in his mind at the moment.

He came back to his senses to find that Voldemort was looking at him in fury.

"You gave the crystal ball to the girl?" He screamed.

"My Lord…" David stammered.

"I told you to stay away from her!" Voldemort flicked his wand and sent David spinning head-over-heels away from him.

David looked at him, now terrified.

"I told you to keep the crystal ball safe and to show it to no-one. I told you to stay hidden when my Death-Eaters were inside the castle and I told you to get rid of the girl!"

He slashed the air with his wand and David staggered with pain, as if he had been slapped hard across the face.

"Three times you have defied me!"

"I'm sorry, my Lord. Please forgive me!" Cried David.

"Lord Voldemort never forgives!" He snarled.

"You have one last chance to prove yourself to me."

"Yes, anything." David gasped.

"Kill the elf!" Voldemort hissed and pointed at Pinky.

Pinky squeaked and looked up at David.

David stared wide-eyed at Voldemort and then looked around and met Pinky's stare. She was shaking uncontrollably. David turned back round to the Dark Lord in despair.

"Please, my Lord. Not Pinky! She hasn't done anything…"

"Do you defy me!" Voldemort screamed at him.

"Do it now!"

David took out his wand, his hands trembling so much that he could hardly hold it. He looked at Pinky, who was now crying and mumbling incoherently. Huge tears rolled down her cheeks and onto her pillowcase dress.

Time slowed down to almost a standstill. David raised his wand and pointed it towards Pinky. His eyes met hers again, so huge and sad. He held back his curse.

Then suddenly, with a loud 'crack', Pinky disappeared.

David stared for a second at the space where she had been standing, then turned to face the fury of the Dark Lord.

"Kill him!" Voldemort hissed to Rodolphus.

David's mouth opened to say 'no', but no sound came out.

He watched in horror as Rodolphus whipped out his wand and pointed it right at him. His eyes flicked towards the terrifying visage of Voldemort and finally to a small dark shape perched on the curtain rail.

"Avada Kedavra!" Shouted Rodolphus.

David saw the room light up as the bolt of green light flashed across and past him, just as he left his body and entered that of Dusty.

He looked down and watched his own body crumple to the ground, lifeless. Frozen with panic, he saw Rodolphus walk over to the body and kick it over. He was dead.

Voldemort gave a grim leer, as Rodolphus put his wand back into his robes.

"This was all so unnecessary." He sneered.

"Do you require any further service of me, my Lord?" Rodolphus asked.

"Yes. Take three other Death-Eaters and go to the house of Jean-Claude Duchard. Force his parents to send an owl to his school and to make him return home. Then kill them all and destroy the house."

"As you wish, my Lord." Said Rodolphus, without any sign of pity for them.

"Then return to London and await the return of the Hogwarts express. When she has returned to her home, kill the girl and retrieve my crystal ball." Said Voldemort.

"What is the name of the girl, my Lord?" Rodolphus asked flatly.

"You have been to the house before and killed her parents. Her name is Susan Bones."

David almost swooned from where he was perched. He watched helplessly, as Voldemort turned and walked out of the room. There was a 'crack', as he disapparated.

Rodolphus looked down at David's body and called.

"Pinky!"

Another 'crack' brought the shivering elf back into the room.

"Get rid of THIS." He said, with disdain.

Pinky looked at the body and burst out crying.

"Your mistress and I will return here in a few weeks' time. Keep the house in good order until then." He ordered and then with a swirl of his cloak, he disapparated too.

Pinky knelt down beside David's body and began to caress his brow. Her back moved up and down as she sobbed over him.

David gave a 'caw', as he tried to call her name and he fluttered down to her. She turned and looked in amazement at him.

"Master!?"

David flapped his wings frantically, but how could he make her understand? He needed to get to the house of the Duchards and to warn them, but more urgently he needed to get to Susan. He had to go and save her.

Appendix

Quidditch Results for Year Six of Harry Potter

Gryffindor

Slytherin

Ravenclaw

Hufflepuff

Game 1

250

0

Game 2

200

280

Game 3

60

320

Game 4

280

200

Game 5

210

150

Game 6

450

140

Score

760

490

540

750

GD

300

-110

-470

280

Rank

1

3

4

2

Harry Potter's Timetable

Harry

1st

2nd

BREAK

3rd

LUNCH

4th

5th

6th

Mon

FREE

DADA

FREE

FREE

Potions

Potions

Tue

Herbs

Charms

Transfig

Transfig

FREE

Charms

Wed

Transfig

FREE

Charms

Potions

DADA

DADA

Thu

Herbs

Potions

FREE

DADA

DADA

Transfig

Fri

Charms

FREE

Transfig

Potions

Herbs

Herbs

David Bertillon's Timetable

David

1st

2nd

BREAK

3rd

LUNCH

4th

5th

6th

Mon

FREE

FREE

FREE

COMC

COMC

FREE

Tue

Herbs

Charms

Transfig

Transfig

FREE

Charms

Wed

Transfig

FREE

Charms

FREE

FREE

FREE

Thu

Herbs

COMC

COMC

FREE

FREE

Transfig

Fri

Charms

FREE

Transfig

FREE

Herbs

Herbs

Disclaimer: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners.

The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


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